Fate's Offer And One's Sacrifice
by NoGoodFox
Summary: Two people from separate worlds die in similar ways at the exact same time. A bored fate offers them a deal. What the deal is... well you'll have to find out. Their decision will effect a certain blonds life more than they know. Rated M For death and cursing.
1. Death

"Talking"

_Thinking_

Reading

**Demonic / Fate Talking**

**AN:** I gained inspiration for this story from all the time travel, second chance, and world travel stories I have see. Still I consider this to be original since I have yet to see other people tell it quiet this way. The main character is an OC but naruto and the other are included in the story heavily. Meaning it won't be all about the OC but the interaction between her and the manga characters.

Also, this chapter is mostly the back story of my OC's. You can skip it if you want. All it does is tell you how they died, which world they came from, and how the basic personality traits they have. I put this here because I really don't like it when authors put flashback chapters in the middle of their work. Their OCs show no troubled past for like half the story then bam. We get a sudden revelation that this happy go lucky OC wasn't so happy and lucky when they were younger. This is here to show you that they actually have a **reason** for the way they act during the rest of the story.

This is rated **M **because the beginning of the story is very dark and contains death. After that the story will be light hearted and hopefully will bring you laughs at the misfortune of my OC.

**Disclaimer: **I do **not** own any character, manga, or anything else that was created by the original author of said series. This holds true **throughout** the rest of this story and the only **exceptions** are the OCs I thought up.

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**Two Worlds Similar Death**

A white haired, blue eyed child ran through a snow covered forest as fast her legs could carry here. She never looked behind her to see if her caretakers were after her or not. All she thought about was her freedom from the prison she had once called her home. It wasn't until recently that she had come to realize her life was never hers to begin with. It was always in the hands of the strange man she had only seen two times total in her whole seven years of life.

Her first memories were of the compound and the many people with white coats. She had grown up under their constant observation and never thought it being strange. There were others kids there as well. Some of the other kids had extra arms and legs while others had weirdly colored hair and eyes like her. She never really paid attention to how some would disappear or how the people in white were always performing test on them. At the age of five it all changed when she met the man who held her life in his hands for the first time.

His snake like eyes and the ever present smirk when he look at his creations had made her shiver in fear. She had never learned his name but only that she and all the others were to live and die for this man. He walked through the children and pointed at her and others while talking to a man writing down what he was saying. To her relief the man had only stayed long enough to give orders to the others before leaving soon after.

The next day she and some others were rounded up and taken to another part of the compound. They were each assigned a new room and roommate they would be living with from then on. When she was first shoved into her room it was empty. She looked around to see one side of the room covered in clothes, weapons, and what looked like musical sheets. The other side she guess was hers since it was bare with only a small bed in the far corner. "Who the Fuck are you?" She jumped around to see a slightly angry looking pinked haired girl who looked a year or two older than her. "M-my n-name is Mio a-and I w-will be y-your roommate f-from now on." The girl looked anything but pleased and shoved her way past Mio to her side of the room "Names Tayuya and I don't care if you're my roommate or not. You stay on your side of the room and don't touch my stuff!" Mio only nodded meekly before she retired to her side of the room.

The next day she was taken into a classroom and her days of peace were replaced by days of harsh training. They always expected her to remember each everything they taught and have it down perfectly the next day. They kept telling her that she had to be exceptional for that was why she was born. She would stay up late to try and remember as much as she could so they wouldn't punish her. Even when she began to do good they did not praise her and only moved her on to harsher training. At the age of six they had started to train her by placing a cup of water in front of her and telling her to turn it to ice. She was confused on how they expected her to change it to ice without putting it into a freezer. Her confused expression only made her caretakers angrier and they often ranted on how she was a failed experiment for not living up to their expectations.

At age six she was able to perfectly freeze water that was contained in a cup and up to a small pond. Even with these improvements, her caretakers were never happy and continued to say she was not as strong as she should be at her age. By then her six year old mind had realized she was not a normal little girl. Everything about her screamed freak from her snow white hair and aqua blue eyes to her ability to control water and ice. It was soon after this that her second and final meeting with the scary man would change her life forever.

It started when for the first time in her life her caretakers had told her there would be no training the next day. Instead she was ordered to stay in her room and only come out during feeding time. For the most part she obeyed them, but she began to worry when she noticed that Tayuya hadn't come back to their room since breakfast. While they weren't friends, Tayuya was the only one who she had mostly talked to for her entire stay here. During lunch she had asked about where Tayuya was and they had snapped at her to be quiet and go back to her room. She had quietly obeyed until she reached the hallway to her room. That was when she saw the man a second time. His smirk was still in place like last time and he seemed to be especially pleased about something. His smirked only widened as he came to see her. "What is a trainee doing outside their room." He asked in a polite and amused voice. "I-I w-was c-coming back f-from l-lunch s-sir. I w-was h-headed towards m-my r-room as o-ordered. I w-wasn't d-disobeying your r-rules." The man merely chuckled and patted her head in a similar way a father would. "I know you wouldn't disobey me. I have seen the great improvement you have had over the years. I hope to see great things out of you as you grow older." Mio had to stop herself from shying away from the mans touch. "T-thank y-you s-sir. I r-really n-need to g-get to m-my room n-now." He grinned at her like a snake before walking by her "That's a good girl. Wouldn't want you to get in trouble now. Keep up the good work and maybe I'll come by to see you next time." He gave a weird laugh as he waved to her as he walked away.

When he disappeared from view, she felt her legs give out as she fell to the floor. That was the most terrifying thing she had ever went through. No training had ever made her feel that scared or horrified before. She looked down the hallway to her room then back to where the man had come from. Whatever had made that man happy couldn't be good. _Could this be why Tayuya disappeared today?_ She felt a jolt of fear go through her body. _What did he do to Tayuya? Does he plan to do the same thing to me?_ She remember how he said he may come back for her. Shivering she shakily stood up and began to walk down the way he had come from. She had to find out what was happening to the only person she even considered a friendly person in this compound. She followed the hallway to the end to see a staircase leading down. She hesitated looking back the way she came then back to the staircase that lead into dimly lit area. She hesitantly placed one foot after the other down the staircase. The further down she went the colder and darker it got. Before long she could barely she in front of her and she kept hearing something coming from below. The closer she got to the bottom the more clear the sounds became before she finally noticed that they were screams of pain. Scared she began to run back up the step to only pause when she recognized one of those screams as Tayuya's. '

Never before had she felt so torn, she could run away to her room where it was safe or try and help Tayuya. They were friends, she knew that but Tayuya was the closest person that may be one in this place. Hearing another pained scream from Tayuya caused her to make up her mind before she descended the rest of the way down the stairs. She came upon a balcony overlooking a huge training room full of kids that were slightly older than her. Here and there were a couple of doctors takings notes on the kids as they screamed in pain. She poked her head barely above the rail as she scanned the room for Tayuya. She found her near the top right corner screaming as she clutched the side of her neck. She gasped in horror at the sight. _What are they doing to her!_ Her question was answered when the doctors below her began talking. "Over a third of them are already dead since they received his curse mark." _Dead… you mean they are killing them!_

"Whats the point in raising this damn freaks if all were doing is killing them."

"Quiet fool, if our lord heard you say that he would kill you."

"Easy there, I just don't see why he has to put his curse mark on any kid that shows any promise. Most die from it and all the time we put into raising them go to waste."

"It doesn't matter to him. If they can't survive something like receiving his curse mark than in his opinion they weren't worthy to be under his command."

"I still say it is a waste."

"Enough talking about this already. It seems that over half are dead now. You go tell the clean up crew their going to need more body bags."

"What! Why do I have to go tell them. Why don't you?"

"Cause I was put in charge of this and if you don't want to get demoted get you ass moving!"

"Fine, whatever, jeez you get put in charge of one thing and you act like you have always been the boss."

"Shut up and go!"

She watched as the doctor began to head towards the exit and her. She bolted up the stairs and through the hallway in a mad dash to her room. She opened her door and quickly slid inside while quietly closing the door behind her. _Is that what I've been trained for all my life._ She crawled into her bed and hid underneath the covers for the rest of the day. _Is that my future?_

The next day she was reunited with Tayuya. At first she felt relieved when she saw her walk through the door. "Tayuya your okay!"

Tayuya looked at her with an annoyed look. "Of course I'm okay. In fact I've never felt so good in my fucking life." Mio actually took a step back as she saw the crazed look on Tayuya face. "I've got this incredible new power and finally getting out of this fucking hellhole."

Mio looked at her in shock. "You're leaving?"

Tayuya sneered at her. "Of course I am. I going to be part of our lords fucking elite guards. I don't have to baby-sit your weak ass any fucking more."

Mio felt her heart ache at what she had said. "You d-don't m-mean t-that." she whimpered at Tayuya.

She laughed at her as she began to pack up her stuff. "Are you actually fucking crying. You more a baby than fucking thought you were. Makes me glad I don't have to see you fucking face anymore after today."

Mio sat stunned as she watched Tayuya finish packing. "Good Riddance" said Tayuya as she left their room. Mio merely sat there alone in her room as she tried to grasp what just happened. _That wasn't Tayuya. There is no way that was Tayuya. She was always grumpy and moody. She also cussed a lot but she never looked at me coldly like that before. She never did call me weakling before either. Is… is it because of what happened yesterday. Did that mark thingy change her._ She shook her head. She just didn't know what was going on anymore. She shivered when she remembered that she may end up just like Tayuya.

The next year pasted for Mio as a living hell. She never received another roommate and her training had only gotten harsher. She was afraid to good enough to receive recommendation for the curse mark, but also afraid of doing horrible for the beatings she would receive. She decided to show some progress but hide how far along she really was. Maybe she could trick them into thinking she wasn't worth the curse mark but also not completely worthless so they wouldn't get rid of her.

Sadly for the seven year old Mio, luck did not seem to be with her. She had received word from her trainer that their Lord was coming in a few days and that she and many others had been chosen to meet him. She had barely contained her gasp of horror and had merely nodded her head in acceptance. Once she made it to the safety of her room, she had broken down sobbing. She didn't want to die, she didn't want that damn mark, and she didn't want to become like Tayuya. It was those very depressing thoughts that brought her to make the very decision that caused her to be running in the first place. She was going to escape or die trying.

Later that night she had crept out of her room and silently crept down the hallways. Having lived here her entire life had caused her to know pretty much where everything was. She stopped by the washroom and filled a bucket full of water. This was her ticket out of here. Freeze the guard and run like hell. She carried the bucket carefully so she wouldn't spill any and arrived at the front gate of the compound. When she saw the guard she nearly laughed in joy. It seemed fate was on her side today since the only person guarding the door was asleep. She crept across the courtyard and stood before the guard. She quickly dumped the water across the man's body and began freezing it. The guard let out a strangled yelp as he jumped up to only fall over as his body become encased in ice. She quickly grabbed the keys of the guards table and began fitting keys into the keyhole to try and unlock it. She went through five keys before she finally heard the lock click. She gave a small squeak of joy and quietly opened the door to only come face to face with another guard.

"What are you doing! No ones allowed outside after dark!"

She tried to slip by him to only get caught by the arm and slammed against the wall. She gave small yelp of pain. "Trying to run away huh? Can't wait till our lord founds out about this." The man chuckled in delight as he thought of the punishment. "He'll definitely teach you not to run away." She struggled more as he pulled her towards the door. _I don't want to go back! I'm so close to being free!_ She pushed against the guard with her free hand. The guard chuckled at her weak attempts to be free. "Try all you want little lass but you won't get away from me."

He dragged her back into the compound and stopped when he so the other guard frozen to the ground. He laughed as he insulted the man for letting such a little girl take him by surprise before he starting yelling for the idiots who were on night patrol. Mio only struggled harder as she heard others approach. This was her only chance to escape and it was quickly dwindling away. If only this man would let go of her. She looked up to see him grinning like an amused fool at her weak attempts to get away. For the first time in her life Mio felt hatred. "Let go of me you bastard." She swung her arm and hit him the chest with all her strength and hatred she could muster. The last thing the guard saw was an angry girl whose eyes flashed silver before his bloody icicles exploded from his chest.

Mio felt cold liquid splash across her face and hands. Next she felt the guards grip loosen before the guard himself fell down dead in front of her. She gaped as his body before she slowly lifted her bloody hand and stared at it. _I-I k-killed s-someone!_ Her shock was quickly overcome by fear when she heard the approaching footsteps of the others. She gave one last look at the dead man before her as she ran out the door.

Now here she was running for her life being hunted by the very people who trained her. She skidded to a stop along a cliff that overlooked a lush forest split by a river. She wildly looked around to see that she was trapped. Behind her were her pursers and in front of her was a large drop from a high cliff. Stay and get captured or jump and hope she survives the fall into the river. She paused only a second before she jumped. The last moments of her life she felt the bone crushing force as she hit the cold water and the feeling of numbness overcome her as the water carried her away.

[...]

Why did I ever agree to go out with my friends to that party. I should have stayed home like a good boy and never told that lie to my parents. Yeah right, like I could actually do that while knowing my friends were having fun without me. Still dieing because you are drunk is not a very flattering way to go.

I lived the last year of my life in the city of Fort Worth in the great state of Texas. Was pretty much born and raised in the south. I was blessed with a high intellect but sadly many friends I had weren't. I wasn't exactly a bad son but I had my moment of rebellion when I was younger. Like how I secretly drank one of my dads beer when I was fourteen just to see what the big deal was about. Surprising I found out I liked it and was hooked on the stuff ever since. Sadly that one act put me on the rode to die four years later in a drunken accident.

The day I died started out like any other day. I was a second son of my parents and with the normal name of josh. I was also a senior in high school and was months away from graduating as a straight A student with an GPA of 3.9 but don't let those grade fool you. I was a party animal and often found myself waking up at a friends house with a headache. Surprising I was also the class clown, but don't think it was a cry for attention or anything. I just liked to make my friends laugh. Anyways back to how I died.

Graduation was coming up and us seniors decided to hold a huge party to celebrate our freedom from the blasted grip of high school. Of course when you hear high school party combined with seniors, you usually think 'hey **free** beer is definitely going to be there'. I was pretty much roped in when all my three best friends Michael, Ronny, and KJ decided to go. Hey if all my friends were going to a party then so was I.

Anyways the party was a blast and to top it off there was free beer! By now you noticed how I mention beer a lot. Yeah… I'm kind of hooked on it. Not much to do when you really enjoy it though. Apparently me and my friends forgot who was supposed to drive us home that night so we ended up all drunk. So we decided on a game of rock, paper, and scissors for who would drive us home. I know it was a stupid game that didn't really prove who was most sober at the moment, but hey I have a defense here. We were all drunk off our asses so it seemed like a good idea at the time. My friend Michael ended up winning the game when he used paper to defeat our scissors… Like I said we were all drunk.

So we piled into his dinky four door car. I don't really remember the name of the brand but hey it had a sunroof on it so it was pretty cool. Everything was going okay at first or at least I think it was since we made it halfway home before we died. Everything went bad when we started talking about what we would do in the future after graduation. That conversation was bound to come up since we just left a party celebrating the very event that will rocket us forward into the "Adults" world as my dad use to say.

KJ was the one who actually started us on the conversation when he suddenly blurted that he wanted to be a pilot. I'm not sure if that was the alcohol talking or not but it was a good dream none the less. He emphasized his declaration by sticking his upper body out the sunroof and pretended to be an airplane. I know that was definitely the alcohol at work there. Ronny ,who was sitting in the passenger seat, declared that he would join the military. He began singing army songs and pretending to march while holding an invisible gun. Michael joined in when he said he wanted to be a race car driver.

I should have known right then and there that comment would have caused nothing but trouble. However, I was currently preoccupied laughing my drunken ass off at the antics of my friends. The car begin to weave a little as Michael sped up as he pretended to be in an imaginary race. What it came to my turn, I merely sat there with a thoughtful expression on my face. I decided then and there that I had no absolutely idea about what I would be. The others started hounding me saying since I was the smart one in the group, then I should already know the future. Hey they got me confused with a fortune teller or something. I'm smart not physic. Michael turned in his seat to face me with a serious expression on his face while he lectured me on not knowing the future.

I merely stared at him dumbly while my alcohol fueled brain was trying to figure out what was wrong the picture here. Moments later a loud screeching sound and a collision with a truck going the opposite direction gave me the answer I needed. Only it was a little to late to do us any good. My friend in his drunken wisdom decided to leave the driving to the car. Now I really don't blame Michael for my death since we were all drunk as well. But I still say how the hell did the drunkest person in the car be the driver… Oh yeah, the rock, paper, and scissor game.

The first of us to die was my friend Ronny. One second he was in the front seat and the next his body went through the window shield and out into the night. The second person to die was Michael as the airbag went off. Now if you were sitting normally it probably would have help him but as you all recall his body was twisted to where he was looking at me. All I know was that the loudest and sickest sounds of bone being broke was heard as the airbag forced my friends front half to be looking in the wrong direction of his lower half. The third person to die was my friend KJ who was currently still hanging out the sunroof. The force of the collision caused our car to flip and KJ was body was ripped out the roof as his body was flattened into the road as the car skidded over him.

The final person to die was me. I count that as the most unluckiest way to die. I had in a matter of seconds watch my friends over my high school years die one after another in gruesome ways. They at least died quick as I was still stuck in the damn car went it went flying of the road and into a creek upside down. So I slowly drowned to death in freezing cold water trapped inside the car with my dead friend whose front half was looking at me. My very last moments were feeling of numbness and the sight of my dead friend eyes staring at me.

[...]

Fate slowly opened her eyes as an interesting scene played out before her. She smiled as one thought ran through her mind. _**This should make things much more interesting around here.**_

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**AN:** Next chapter will be called **Fate's Offer. **This chapter was mostly to get a back story on my OCs and how they died. Next chapter is where naruto and the others will make there appearance.


	2. Offer

**AN:** Hmm… This chapter is kind of dialoguey but I couldn't really find a way to change that.

**Edit: **I changed the age of the child. She is seven now. I was looking through my previous chapter and I was like… I miscounted, forgot there was a six between five and seven. Felt like a retard when I noticed that. All well its fixed now so its okay

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**Fate's Offer**

Fate relaxed on her couch drinking sake while she waited for her "guest" to arrive. She chuckled at what their reaction will be to them finding out they were dead. Would they cry, scream, throw a fit, or mistake this place for heaven and her as god. She chuckled, she was ready to mess with some mortals minds.

A yell and a loud thump announced the arrival of her first guess. Before her laid a dazed teenager with brown hair and eyes. **"Ah Josh, finally arrived I see."**

Josh shook his head and looked up to see a beautiful woman lounging on a couch with a drink in her hand. He probably should have been shocked at seeing a complete stranger in a strange place, but he had more important matters on his mind.

"What's going on here and why the hell am I on the floor?"

"**Now, Now, calm down and wait for my other guest to arrive before you start asking questions."**

"Other guest? What othe- oof!" He was cut off when a screaming white hair child piledrived him into the ground from above. "What the hell!" He shoved the child off him and stood up with an angry look. "Watch where they hell you falling from. You could have killed me!"

A sniffle followed by a sad sorry made him instantly regret his reaction. In front of him was a small child who looked like she was about to burst into tears. "H-hey its alright don't cry. You just surprised me that's all." The girl continued to sniffle not looking convinced at all. He helplessly turned to the Fate. "Hey woman, help me out with this. It's you fault were here I bet."

Fate frowned at his address of her. **"My names not woman. It's Fate, I am of course the one who brought you here. However, it was through your own actions that you are even meeting me in the first place."**

Josh didn't look convinced at all. "Yeah right, I bet you some kidnapper that's trying to play mind games with me and this child. You're a sick freak you know that."

Fate good mood was fading away fast. This was not how she thought her meeting with them would go. **"I am telling you the truth boy. You may have forgotten but you and the child died not to long ago. Do I need to remind you of how you died again."**

He scoffed at her "If I'm dead then how the hell am I…" he paused when the memory of his death slammed into him. _S-she right I-I'm dead. But how is this possible. If what she says is true then how am I talking right._

"**It's quite simply little boy, I am the entity known as Fate. I can affect one's path through life and death. Your death and the child's there have brought about a unique situation that has not happened in hundreds of years." **She paused as she tried to gage the reaction of her audience. Surely now, they will she just how powerful she is and that they really are dead. The child reaction was as she hoped. She was looking at her in fear and awe. She inwardly chuckled at the sight. _**Cute kid. Now for the other one.**_ His reaction was not she expected.

Josh was staring at her with a thoughtful look on his face. "So I'm dead, the girl is dead, and your fate?" He paused as Fate nodded her head in answer to his question. "Okay, well it makes since now that I remember the whole car crash incident I just went through. I'm just not happy with one thing"

"**And that is?"**

"Why is fate a barely dressed drunken woman lounging on a couch in front of me? Kind of a let down to tell you the truth. What's next? Lady luck is actually a guy?"

Fate was stunned at what she had just heard. She the almighty being known as Fate was being mad fun of by a mortal boy. Her shock was quickly replaced by anger. **"I would not speak so foolishly boy! You know not what I can do to your soul. I could send you to the deepest pit of darkness, tear your soul apart, make you be reborn as an ant, and all kinds of torture that your mortal mind could never imagine. You should know your pla **She was interrupted when a loud wailing erupted from the Mio.

"Look what you did! You made her cry."

"**I did no such thing! You girl, stop your crying. I demand you to stop crying."**

"Yeah, like screaming at her will do any good."

"**Shut Up!"**

Mio only cried harder as Fate was now screaming at her as well. Everything was to much for her poor mind to handle. She had finally escaped from her prison but she died doing so. She had been confused of course when she had first landed here. Her death had been blocked from her minds by the confusing situation and had only come back to the forefront of her mind when Fate reminded them they were dead. Things only got worse when the older boy beside her and fate started arguing. She didn't want any of this to happen. She had only wanted to be free of the horror filled future that was planned for her. Instead, she had no future now because she was stupid enough to die while escaping.

Fate sighed **" Would you stop crying if I told you that reason I brought you here is that you have a second chance at life?"**

Josh stared at her with a stunned look on his face while Mio crying abruptly stopped crying at her announcement. Both couldn't believe what Fate had just said. A second chance at life was possible for someone who had already dead. Mio rubbed the tears out of her eyes as she gave a hopeful look at Fate. "R-really w-we c-can have a s-second c-chance."

"**Yes you can. However, there is one tiny little condition for this to be met."**

Both felt a sense of dread fill them. Josh was the first one to speak. "What kind of condition are we talking about." He asked suspiciously.

Fate gave a light chuckle while stretching out on the couch. **"Oh, that one of you must give up your chance at your second chance at life for the other to live."**

In a three seconds Fate had made Mio emotions go from despair to hopeful and back to despair again. One of them had to die completely for the other to live. She peeked at the older boy beside her. He to was shocked but his reaction was different from hers.

"One of us have to fucking die! Is this the reason you brought us here so you could play this sick game with us." To say he was furious was quiet obvious. In order for him to live again he would have to doom this little girl beside him to death. The opposite was quiet the same for the girl. For her to live he would have to doom himself to death.

"**Now don't get all riled up. This is a generous offer I am giving to you. Usually you would both die, but now one of you have a chance at life. Of course you could both refuse and both pass on if that would make you happy."**

"No, what would make me happy is that I dead fully instead of having to meet you."

"**I'm really starting to dislike you boy."**

"Feeling is mutual you drunken hag."

"Um excuse me." Mio interrupted the argument that was going on between the older boy and fate. "Is it really true only one of us can live again."

"**It is true little one. I do not lie about matters surrounding life and death."**

"Oh"

Josh sighed as the crestfallen look on the girls face. _So there really is no way out of this. Hmm… exactly why can't we both live? _"Hey Fate!"

"**Yes boy"**

"Why exactly can't we both live again. There has to be a reason that actually makes sense. Don't even give the reason about upsetting natural order or something. Last time I checked, not very many people see coming back to life as a "natural" event or anything."

Fate lifted an eyebrow in surprise. **"Hmm… that is a surprising good question you have there for a mortal."** She ignored his indignant "hey" as she shifted to a sitting position. **"It just so happens I have a surprising good answer to that as well. While true that what I'm doing isn't natural, I can give you another chance. As for why only one of you can live again is actually quiet simple. At this point in time you two are not actually dead. You are actually between life and death at this very moment. Problem is neither of you two alone have enough power to save you life. However, if one of you were to say give up you remaining life to me then I would use it to save the other." **She finished her explanation and took a sip of her sake as she watched the information sink in.

Josh frowned at the information she had given. It made more sense than he thought it would. He was expecting her to say it was a silly whim or she was doing for fun. However, he still wasn't satisfied with one thing. "I think I understand the basic situation here but there is still one thing that's bothering me."

"**And that is?"**

"Can you do this with every death or is something different about ours?"

Fate chuckled **"Boy, you continue to surprise me. Yes, there is something special about your death or more exactly the way and timing of it. By some coincidence you two died at the exact same time. Not only that but in the same way. You both drowned in a river during the middle of winter. Even with many worlds at there, that is quiet a rare feat you have done. Same time, same way of death, both during winter and you both even died at night. All these condition have caused a sort of link to form between you at death. That is why you now have this chance before you."**

Josh nodded his head as he finally fully understood how this was happening. It was possible for something like to happen. If fate was indeed real, then who was to say what other supernatural events couldn't happen. He frowned as he realized that only one problem was left. Who would die and who would live.

Meanwhile Mio had been sitting there as she watch the young boy with something close to amazement. He was somehow speaking equally with this amazing women who controlled their life in her hands. Not only that, but he looked like he knew what was going on now. Her seven year old mind was still confused and it didn't help that Fate's explanation was long and hard to understand. A feeling of depression settled on her as she knew what had to happen. She was no good to anyone in her life. She had no one who would miss her or mourn her death. She gave a shaky breath as she broke the silence that had filled the room. "E-excuse m-me F-fate, b-but I w-would l-like to g-give m-my l-life to h-him." Despair was replaced by numbness as she finished her sentence. There she had just given up her life to a complete stranger. Did she regret it… she didn't know.

Glass shattered as Fate dropped her cup in surprise. This child who had barely spoken since she got here had just told her she would give up her life for the boy. Her mouth opened and closed silently before she got a hold of her self. **"Are your sure you want to do this? There will be no third chance. You will die here and now."**

Mio gulped but was able to nod her head. "I-It's a-alright, I-I k-know t-that I w-will d-die. I h-have n-no one t-to go b-back to a-anyway." She mumbled the rest to herself without knowing they could hear her. "N-no one w-will miss m-me anyways."

"Hey, girl" Mio looked up in surprise at the boy. He had thoughtful yet serious face on. "So you have no family or friends to go back to?" Mio silent shook her head no since she didn't trust herself to not cry if she tried to speak. "I see… Okay then I'll take that offer! Your life is now mine."

Both Mio and Fate looked at him in surprise at his announcement. **"Do you truly mean to take the girls life to save your own." **Fate asked as she felt anger well up inside of her.

"Hey you said either one of us had a chance to go back. You should have known this could happen, or were you expecting the child to be the one to go back. Besides she offered her life to me and I simply accepted."

Fate growled but couldn't deny what he had said. She had said that they both had a chance. She just didn't think that he would so easily take the life of the little girl beside him. She sighed as she gave in. **"Very well, then your life is now his girl."**

Mio didn't seem to be listening as she stood frozen solid in fear. She hadn't expected he would take her offer so easily either. Now she was truly going to die. She felt tears start to form on the edge of her eyes. She rubbed them furiously, she was not going to cry! She herself had chosen this path.

"Hey Fate, before you do your little hocus pocus stuff. I want to know something."

"**What is it boy."** She asked venomously.

"Can you use your power to affect events around us after we come back."

"**Yes, I can boy. Why do you ask. Do you want me to save one of your friends or something. If so, then tough luck because I will do no such thing for a mortal like you."**

He grinned at Fate with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Oh nothing like that, but I have something else I want you to do."

[...]

Hiruzen Sarutobi groaned when his back cracked as he relaxed in his chair. The title of Hokage to many promised fame, power, and a place among histories greatest ninja who ever lived. If they only knew how much paperwork the Hokage did then they wouldn't be so envious of his position. He sighed as he turned to look over the village he had been protecting for a great many years. Konoha, one of the great ninja villages, gleamed in the night as the moon glowed brightly from above. The calming sight relaxed his aching bones from his tired day at work. A calm he feared would not last much longer. A certain clan was disturbing the peace that him and all the previous Hokages had made. Danzo and the elders were beginning to push him to "take care of the problem" as they would say it. He knew what they really meant, kill them before they rebelled. He had refused so far, but it began to look like hope for a peaceful solution was dieing fast. His eyes drifted to a certain hidden drawer in his desk. He had been working none stop lately and he deserved a little relaxation and maybe a good read. A small blush appeared on his cheeks as he reached for the drawer. One hour of reading couldn't hurt anything.

"Hokage-sama!" A green blur busted through the door causing him to jerk his hand away from the drawer and try act like he was working. "I the devilishly good looking green beast of Konoha have returned from a successful mission." He sighed as he rubbed his forehead as he felt a headache coming on. This was exactly what he didn't want at the moment. A youthful Gai at the end of his tiring day. He put on a serious face to cover what he was really thinking. "How did the mission go? Everything went as planned I assume."

Gai gave him his "famous" pose as he answered him. "Yes Hokage-sama, me and my team were easily able to free the village near the border of rice country from the rogue ninja's that had taken camp there. We suffered no causalities and were able to save the town with burning power of youth!"

Sarutobi sighed as he noticed that Gai was alone. "Where exactly is your team at Gai."

Gai actually looked embarrassed for a second. "You see Hokage-sama, we found a wounded child in the woods near the valley of the end. Seems she had fallen into the river and ended up wounded on its shores. I raced back here to place her in the hospital to save her life."

He lifted an eyebrow in curiosity at the explanation. "A child you say?" He paused as he looked at the paperwork laying innocently on his desk. He nodded his head as he seemed to have decided on something important. "Gai take me to see this child." Gai saluted as he answered. "Hai Hokage-same." As Sarutobi followed Gai out of his office and to the hospital he had one thought. _Finally, I get a break from that infernal paperwork._

[...]

Josh the spirit, as he now referred to himself since he was… well dead, looked down over a hospital bed. "Hey, you actually were able to do what I said. Honestly, when I asked you to make sure the girl was saved by good people and taken to a nice place, I didn't really think you could do it."

Beside him was Fate as she too looked at her handy work. **"Fool, did you not think I was capable of such an easy task. Really, you need to learn to respect powerful beings such as myself."**

Josh shrugged at her statement. "Eh, I'm dead so I don't really need to anymore. I'll just disappear to wherever we spirits go after this anyways." He gave her a sharp look. "That is if you were able to complete my last request."

Fate gave an insulted look. **"Of course, you'll see as soon as she wakes up that her mem-"** She was interrupted when two people entered through the doorway. Fate them a quick look-over before she realized them as the Hokage and the thing named Gai. **"Hmm, this is an interesting event. Didn't think the leader of this village would come to meet a single orphaned girl."**

Josh watched as the old man in a overly large hat as he walked to the edge of the bed to look at the girl. "That is the village leader? He looks like he could croak any moment now." He then noticed the green thing beside the old guy who was conversing with him in a "loud" whisper. "What the fuck is that!"

Fate snorted at his reaction. **"The one in the hat is name Sarutobi and that thing your so freaked out about is named Gai. Their two of the strongest ninjas in this village."**

"oh… wait! Ninjas? Your telling me you put her in a village of fucking ninjas? I told you somewhere safe! Not somewhere where a guy could come screaming out of nowhere to kill you."

"**Please, you make it sound like all ninjas are bloodthirsty killers. Well… actually a lot are but the ones in this village are not. In fact, this is the safest place for an orphan like her to be. The other ninja villages are not so kind to orphans as this one is."**

"You could have just put her in a normal village. I'm sure there are plenty around here."

"**Hey, quite complaining, she safe isn't she? What's it matter if she is in a ninja village or not."**

"… It matters a lot."

"**ph, whatever you say mortal."**

"I'm starting to notice how you say mortal when you start losing a argument."

"**I'm not losing this argument!"**

"I kind of think you are."

"**Then your brain thought wrong!"**

"Yeah… No it didn't."

Movement below ended their argument as it seemed the child had woken up. They were not the only ones who noticed as the old man told the green thing to go get a nurse. He then turned toward the child with a kind look on his face as he asked how she felt.

Josh focused on the scene before him but gave Fate a quick glance. "We'll finish this later."

"… **No we won't."** whispered Fate as she to turned to watch the scene unfolding before them. The more she watched the more Fate begin to sweat as she watched the boy beside here get mad. Okay apparently there was a flaw in her final act she had done for the boy. He had asked her to make the child forget all about Fate, him, and her time in death. Oh, she had made her forget alright, but just a little to well. Mio it seemed couldn't remember her name or the past year of her life. She was confused on why she was somewhere beside the compound and why she couldn't remember her name. In fact, she looked ready to freak out from the look of her wide eyes, pale skin, and panicked breathing. Fate peeked over to see the boy's reaction as the old man below her was trying to calm the child down.

To say he was pissed was an understatement. Josh was furious with how things turned out. He had sacrificed his life to save this girl and Fate couldn't even fulfill her part of the deal. First he had asked her to keep her safe after she was found. She did this by putting her in a fucking village swarming with ninja's who were paid to kill. Next he had asked her to erase the ordeal of meeting Fate from her mind. He didn't want her to feel guilty over him choosing to die instead of her or be mentally scared by dieing in the first place. Of course, this was where she really messed up big time. A whole year of her life was now gone and even her name was forgotten. He turned to glare at the one responsible for this whole mess. "What exactly do you plan to fix this now?"

Fate gave him a weak smile. **"There really isn't much I can do now that she is awake."**

"And why not?" he almost hissed out.

"**Well, this is embarrassing, but I would have to erase the memories of everyone in this room and replace them with ones where she did know her name. As you can see."** she said as she pointed towards Mio **"Memory manipulation isn't my strong point. It would probably make this situation a lot worse than it is now."**

"Then what the hell can you do to fix all this? There is no way I can pass on now knowing she is like this because you botched up my requests." He shouted angrily at her.

"**I really don't know how I'm going to fix this whole mess but I'll try."** She seemed to be in deep thought as she watched the nurse apply some chakra to put the panicked child to sleep. **"I think I have an idea."** She turned and gave Josh a amused smirk. **"However, it involves you actually being alive to fix what I have done."**

"Well, that's just great. In case you haven't noticed, I'm D-E-A-D."

Fate smirk turned dark. **"Oh, I know that only to well. Although, I can fix that with the right materials in this world."** She began to laugh as images past through her head. Oh she was so right to get involved in these two people's death. **"Don't worry I won't cause any harm to you or others with this plan. I'll simply be putting you in a position to help the child from now on. Think of it as a sorry for messing up her life and your death."**

Josh felt a shiver of fear go through his spine. Why did he not like the look Fate had just given him. "What do you mean putting me in position to help her. Wait! Your not actually going to resurrect me as an animal are you." He backed away from Fate as she floated towards him. "No way in hell am I going to allow yo He fell silent as Fate put his spirit in a comatose state.

"**ah, that's much better."** She snapped her fingers before a coffin appeared beside her. **"Need to put your spirit here so I can conserve what energy you soul has left." **She placed him in the coffin and snapped her fingers again for it to disappear. A chuckle escaped her again as she started hunting for what she needed. **"Oh, he would rule the day he argued with fate. She will fulfill his request and even give him his life back, but she would do it in a way that would entertain her for years to come."**

* * *

**AN:** Uh-oh, what going to happen next. Poor Josh and Mio can't seem to catch a break.

Next chapter **New Life New Problems**


	3. New Life

**New Life New Problems**

Mio had an interesting two days since she woke up. Her first memories of this place were not very good. Waking up to a old man and a strange green creature staring down at you would make anyone freak out. The second time she woke up went a little better as she woke up to an empty room. She checked every corner and under her bed for any signs of that green creature from before. Luckily, she seemed to be monster free that day. Later some nurses had gone in to check on her and had come back every hour to check up on her. For her lunch, the food she had been given made the compound's seem like a four star restaurant. Was hospital food suppose to be this bad or was it the cooks fault?

After lunch was when strange things began to happen to her. For one, she just couldn't figure out how she had gotten her and why she had no idea what her name was. It didn't help her confused state when the green beast from before had "visited" her to apologies for scaring her yesterday. Which really meant that Gai had busted down her door and began to spout sentences that had way to many youthful, un-youthful, spring, good guy poses, and talk of something blooming twice. At first she had been scared stiff to see the creature from last night barge into her room. Eventually, her fear had turned into confusion and amusement as she noticed that he seemed unable to stop talking. Now that she had a good look at him, she could see he wasn't as scary as she thought but just really strange looking. She had never before she someone wear a green spandex before and his eyebrows and hair were oddly shaped as well.

Soon Gai was on a roll about his punishment would be for scaring her and what other punishment he would do if he failed the previous punishment. As she listened to his list get crazier and crazier, she began to giggle as she imagined how he would do all of them. Could someone really run around a village on their hands while having a boulder tied to their feet? Climb a mountain with one hand tied behind his back while singing a song loud enough for the people on the ground to hear? She didn't know but they were very funny punishments for someone to have to do. Gai paused in his rant when he noticed that the girl was laughing at him. Her giggles died fast when she noticed him staring at her and begin to worry if she had insulted him for laughing at his ideas. Her fears were blown away when he began to shout out about how youthful she was and some other stuff she couldn't quite understand.

His visit was interrupted when a weird man with scars on his face accompanied by a man with long blonde hair walked through the destroyed entrance to her room. Gai expression hardened into a serious one as he was told to leave the room. He argued with them a little about what they planned to do but really couldn't do anything if they were here on the Hokage's orders. He turned back to Mio and gave her a blinding smile as he yelled that he would come back the next day to once again check up on her. A blur of green later and she was alone with her new visitors. These visitors were not so friendly as the Gai was and she found herself missing the other man's presence. The man with scars introduced himself as Ibiki and his partner as Inoichi. They were here to question her about where she had come from.

Their questions seemed a little weird to her. Why did they want to know so much about where the compound was and who ran it? Maybe they were trying to find out where she lived previously? The most surprising thing was the reaction they had when she described the pale man with snake eyes. The room instantly became tense and she wondered if she shouldn't have described that man. Ibiki made her say everything she knew about the man before he stepped back and allowed the Inoichi to approach her. He explained to her that he was going to "jump" into her mind to see if he could find out why her memories were missing. Mio didn't really want someone in her head but, he assured her that it wouldn't hurt and, she may regain her missing memories. She watched as he did some funny signs with his hands before everything went fuzzy.

Minutes later, moments for Mio, she felt her eyes focus back to see a disgruntled look on the blond mans face. He stepped away from her as he thanked her for being cooperative before he and Ibiki left. She only watched as they left before she laid back in her bed to relax from her ordeal. An hour later a nurse came by with her dinner and checked up on her for the last time that day. With a full stomach and tired mind she felt sleep clam her while she thought about all the weird people she had met that day.

She woke up the next day feeling better and actually look forward to Gai's visit. Time ticked by slowly as boredom consumed her brain. After lunch, her door opened but to her disappointment it wasn't guy but the old guy. Sarutobi chuckled as he noticed the disappointed look on her face. He hadn't actually planned to come by today but a certain blonde had injured himself by trying to pull a prank. Speaking of blondes, he turned and pushed Naruto into the room. Naruto turned to him with a pout on his face. "Old man, do I really have to be here."

He puffed out some smoke before he answered. "Naruto, I know you don't like being here but we have to make sure you didn't break anything when you fall off that building."

"I'm completely fine, believe it." He began to wave his arms around before he flinched in pain and held his right arm. Sarutobi couldn't quite see his arm but he knew that it was most likely badly bruised if not broken. He knew naruto didn't like coming her since the nurses and doctors wouldn't help him unless he order them to. He sighed sadly as he once again grieved over his failed promise to get the village to see Naruto as a hero.

"Hey, who are you?" He was brought out of his depressing thoughts when Naruto finally noticed Mio was in the room as well. The girl looked lost on how to answer him. This child was also unfortunate. From the information that Ibiki and Inoichi had given him, it seemed she was one of Orochimaru's experiments and had lived her entire life in a compound closed off from the world. The saddest part was she didn't even know her own name and why she was born. He watched as Naruto continued to pester her as he fired off question after question. Hopefully these to children will find some happiness in the future but first he had to save her from Naruto.

"That's enough with the questions Naruto. The past couple of days have been hard on her due to her having amnesia." Naruto faced crunched up into a confused expression. "Hey old man, what does amnisa mean." Sarutobi shook his head. "It's not amnisa but amnesia Naruto and it means that she has lost part of her memory." A look of understanding came across his face before. "Oh, I see, Well don't worry about a thing. You'll get memory back with my help. Believe it!" He coughed to get Naruto attention before he could promise her anything else. There was a chance she would never recover her memories and it was best not to get her hopes up. "Before I let you talk her ears off Naruto, we need to get your arm checked on." He ignored Naruto's complaints as he called for a nurse.

A middle aged women soon entered the room and bowed to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, do you need me for something?" He nodded his head and pointed to a pouting Naruto sitting on the edge of Mio's bed. "I would like you to tend to this child's arm." The nurses demeanor turned hostile as she caught sight of Naruto. She turned towards the Hokage with a look of disbelief on her face. "Hokage-sama, you can't expect me to heal that thing!" His face hardened instantly at her attitude toward Naruto. "Yes I do, I expect you to heal his arm **without **any complaints or ideas about hurting him more." He hated having to order his own people to heal a child but he would make sure that Naruto would receive at least some care under his watch.

Mio watched as the nurse she had seen before attend to Naruto. The nurse, who had been gentle with her, roughly healed and wrapped up his arm. To his credit, he only flinched in pain and never let a whimper pass his lips. Once done, Sarutobi thanked her before she stiffly left the room. He looked at Naruto as he fidgeted with his wrapping around his arm. "How does your arm feel now." Naruto gave Sarutobi a fake smile. "It feels better… but the bandage are a little tight around my arm." He sighed as he knelt down beside the boy to help him readjust the bandages so they weren't hurting him. Once finished he stepped back as an awkward silence filled the room.

Luckily, or unluckily depending on who you were, Gai made his customary entrance of busting through the door to announce his presence. "I, Gai the great green beast of prey, have returned as promised!" Sarutobi coughed as he swallowed some smoke from his pipe while Naruto had a shocked expression on his face. To his surprise, Mio actually looked happy about having a man in green spandex come busting through her door. Naruto begin yelling at him for busting down the door in a hospital and scaring them. Sarutobi tensed when he saw Gai notice Naruto standing beside Mio's bed. He didn't know where Gai stood on his view about Kyuubi and his warden. He sighed in relief when Gai began to spout about how un-youthful it was of him to scare them. Mio tried to stop Gai from going on his punishment rant as Naruto made things worse as he noticed the man's eyebrows.

Sarutobi watched in amusement at the mayhem and confusion that was happening before him. His good mood vanished when an anbu member appeared behind him to whisper something in his ear. He sighed as the ninja behind him disappeared. It seems that Danzo and the elders were no longer waiting for a peaceful solution to their problem. They had called him to a meeting that was to take place in an hour. A meeting he feared would end with one of Konoha's prominent clans being destroyed. He took one last look at the relaxing sight before him as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The others didn't notice his departure and were unaware of the tragedy that would happen late that night.

[…]

Fate was beginning to doubt just how good of a plan she had. It seemed simple to her really. Find a person who was dieing, could use chakra, temporally place boy's spirit in body, and have him heal her directly. Problem was that a ninja had a higher chance of dieing from rabid squirrels attacking them then they would in their village. Of course they wouldn't die easily, they had been train to survive things most people couldn't even dream of.

So here she was two days into searching for a body to deem it impossible. She couldn't leave the village to find a body because it wouldn't last long enough to make it back to the girl. She couldn't just give him someone's body while they were alive because her powers just didn't work that way. The only solution she had was if she could somehow call in a favor to death. It seemed she would have to give the boy a second chance at life after all. Of course, this was a special case since she had given her word that she would fulfill his conditions before he died. A deity's word was something one couldn't take lightly. The balance of the worlds depended on them and an untrustworthy deity was quickly dealt with.

The problem now was how was she going to find Death. He was not a very sociable creature and it took a rather important death for him to personally oversee it. She could go look for him but it could take years for her to find him. By the time she came back it was possible Mio would already be dead. Time after all passes differently for an immortal like her. After another hour of futile searching, she gave up and decided to check on how Mio was doing. Maybe she could find someone in the hospital that was dieing at the same time.

She met an interesting scene when she phased into Mio's room. A blonde kid and the green creature from before had invaded her room. They were both rather loud individuals, but didn't seem to be causing the girl any harm. She noticed the Hokage in the corner and nearly squealed in delight at what she saw. There was definitely a dark aura of death surrounding the old dude. The demise of an Hokage would definitely be watched by Death. She cursed when the old coot disappeared. Now she would have to go find his ass and stick around till he died. She phased into his office to see it empty.A growl escaped her lips as she was forced to search the dam building from top to bottom.

Two hours later, the sun had set and Fate was still minus one old mans life. Did he go off and die in some remote place or something. Giving up, she floated to the top of the Hokage's building and sat on the roof. The village was rather pretty but she wasn't in the mood to admire it at the moment. Late into the night, she felt the old man appear in his office below him. She almost screamed in frustration when she noticed that the dark aura around him was now replaced by a sad one. If he wasn't going to die, then who the hell was. There was definitely death in the air around him earlier. She left the office to allow the old man to wallow in his misery.

She floated around the city looking for the cause of the Hokage's recent emotional turmoil. Many leaders had that reacted like that when they ordered the death of many people. So Death was definitely going to be there to oversee it. She hit the jackpot when she floated over a huge compound with fan symbols along its wall. On the outside, it was quiet and clean. The inside was covered in blood, bodies, and screams filled the air. She found Death in no time as he was floating above the very center of the conflict. A black cloak hid his entire body from view.

"**Hey Death!"**

Death turned to her and focused his sickly glowing green eyes on her. Fate stopped her self from shivering as he stared at her. **"I need to call in a favor."**

Death shook his head as a airy voice filter through his hood. **"Haven't you already messed with mortals life enough for now."**

She pouted **"You didn't even let me say what my favor was."**

"**What else could you want from one who deals in death?"**

"**Hehe, yeah, I guess your right. Anyways, I need you to let me borrow the spirit and body of someone who is dieing down there at the moment."**

"…**No."**

"**Why not! I need it for only second to fulfill a promise I made."**

"**These souls here are a very good harvest for me and I will not waste one spirit on your little errand."**

"**It's just one spirit! I mean you can't possible be that greedy when there are so many of them dieing right now."**

"**True there are many, but a harvest like this hardly scene within hundreds of years of each other. An entire clan full of special blood and renown is a very special harvest indeed to me."**

Below them, less and less noises could be heard as more people dead. Fate was running out of time. **"Look I'll owe you one okay, just give me anything you can, but the body has to at least be capable of using chakra."**

Death seemed to think for a while before he nodded his head. **"Very well, but you will only use the body I give you. The price for this favor, I will collect later."**

"**Yeah, okay! I agree, now hurry up! There's is hardly anyone left alive down there!"**

Death undeterred by her attitude, floated down slowly to stop by a child's body. **"You may use this mortal's soul and body for you scheme."**

"**What? You can't seriously be expecting me to use that body. Can it even use chakra?"**

"**Yes, in time it will be able to succeed at the task you need. This is my only offer I will give you. The other souls our to important to give for such a task."**

Fate grumbled as Death left her to continue his supervision of the remaining deaths that would come that night. Josh wouldn't be happy when he becomes conscious but all well. She had tried her best and if this is what she got then so be it. The coffin appeared beside her and opened to reveal Josh in his comatose state. Now that she had everything she could start on getting him a new body.

She shifted the body around until she had laid the child on her back. Blood was seeping out of a hole close to the heart and would most likely be the cause of death. Quickly she took hold of the owners soul and used the last of its energy to restart the heart. The body jerked as the energy ran through it and she felt the heart start beating. Quickly before it could stop, she stuffed Josh's soul into it. Using the addition energy of his soul, she shifted the wound a degree to the left so that it wouldn't kill him if he got medical attention quick enough. She patted the head of the body that Josh now inhabited. **"You're more trouble than you are worth you know that." **She grinned as she looked over his new body.** Although, I can't wait to see how you react when you wake up."**

[…]

An old man walked through the streets of Konoha late at night. Beside him was his companion in life, Sage. She was a golden haired, medium sized dog who was getting as old as him. She rarely wanted to go on walks lately, but tonight had seemed strangely adamant about going. It was late, but since he retired from the hospital five years ago, he had nothing else to do. Suddenly Sage begin to bark as she ran down a street towards the Uchiha compound. Yelling at her to stop, he went after her as fast as his old body would let him.

He stopped at the gates to see that they were slightly open. He called for Sage and an answering bark from the other side told him where she was. He debated on if he should intrude on the Uchiha's but his fear for his dog pushed him to enter their compound. His heart nearly stopped when he came to the sight of countless bodies filling the street. Blood was everywhere, and not a single sign of life could be seen.

A bark to his left brought his attention to Sage who was standing near a body outside a house. He urgently whispered to her to come back now and leave this place. She ignored him and began pawing at the body while whining. Noticing that she wasn't listening, he ran over to her before trying to pull her away. The dog fought him as it tried to get back to the body that had caught its attention. He gave up and began to wonder why the hell his dog was so damn curious about a body.

He knelt beside the body and gasped in surprise when he felt a heartbeat. This child was still alive but was wounded badly. He nervously looked around before he began to try and make it possible to move her. He was rusty at first since it had been five years since he needed to use chakra to heal anything bigger than a cut. He healed it enough to where the blood loss slowed considerable before he gently picked her up. He groaned as his back popped with the extra wait. He ignored the pain in his back as he and his dog gently jogged out the gate. He had to get some help and quick.

Back in the compound, Itachi Uchiha was to distracted torturing Sasuke to notice the slight change in plan that was unfolding.

[…]

Kakashi Hatake sat in bar for ninjas with his favorite book in his hand. He rarely got drunk but liked to have a drink every so often while he had a good read. Business around this time was usually slow and was one of the reason he chose to drink at this bar. The peaceful mood was destroyed an old man busted through the door. His eye instantly locked onto the small child he was carrying. The man begin shouting hysterically as he told them what he had seen moments before.

In a blink of an eye, Kakashi had summoned Pakkun, gave him orders to inform the Hokage, and appeared before the man to relieve him of the child. He disappeared in a puff of smoke as he teleported him and the child to the hospital. He appeared in the middle of the lounge shouting for the nurses to prepare an emergency room. He refused to surrender the child and told them to lead the way.

Minutes later, a surgery was under way to save her life. Kakashi guarded the room as he watched them try and save the child. There was a chance the killer would come back to finish the job and he wouldn't allow that to happen. That small girl on the operation table may be the last legacy of Obito's family. The surgery went late into the night before they finished. Now it was all up to the child if she would live or not.

[…]

Late at night, Fate entered the room where the small body laid in a hospital bed. She chuckled as she planted her hand on the girls forehead. Moments later, the child's eyes slowly opened. "Wh-where am I?"

"**Hello boy… or should I say girl? Never mind, did you have a nice sleep?"**

"What do you me-" Josh flinched in pain as he grabbed his chest. He felt like someone had stabbed a heated rod into his chest. As the pain died down, he noticed the change in his body. No longer did he have a teenager body, but one of a child. "Fate, what did you do to me! Why am I a child!"

"**Well, I kind of had a little trouble with Death about our whole deal. Don't worry, everything worked out find on my end. So all we need now is for you to get better so you can go heal Mio yourself."**

"A little trouble? I look like a little kid again!"

"**Well you kind of are a kid now. But don't worry about growing up being boring."** She chuckled at his confused look. **"One, you are a student currently enrolled in a ninja academy. Two, you are going to have to take care of Mio. Three, take a good look at your body and you'll know the biggest reason your life will be different."**

Josh had a confused expression as he looked over his body. He didn't really see anything different about it. He wore a hospital gown that covered the bandages that were wrapped around his chest. The covers laid over the bottom of his body and he could see and feel both legs. He wasn't missing a limb, wasn't paralyzed, and the only problem he saw was the wound on his chest.

Fate couldn't stop the laughter that escaped her as she watched him try and figure out what she meant. He looked at her with annoyed expression before demanding she told him what was different. Fate grinned at him began to phase out of existence. **"Welcome to the world of women, little girl."**

Stunned, he watched as she faded completely from view as his brain tried to register what she just said. She had to be lying to him, there was no way in hell he was a girl now. He gulped as he looked down at the blankest that covered his lower body. Although, now that she mentioned it, there was a feeling that something was missing down there. He slowly grabbed the blankest before he jerked them away. A girlish scream of rage and horror filled the air.

* * *

**AN:** Another chapter done! Hopefully you all liked it. If something doesn't make sense feel free to point it out.

Next chapter- **New Home New Identities**


	4. New Home

**New Homes New Identities**

One week had passed since the Uchiha massacre. Days of paperwork, giving orders, gathering information, and council meetings later, and Sarutobi still wasn't done sorting out the mess it left behind. He was now on his way to yet another meeting that was called by the elders. He sighed as he entered the meeting room and took his seat. As always, the elders, Homura and Koharu, sat on either side of him while Danzo always took the seat across the room from him. The rest of the table was filled in with the shinobi clans being to the left of him and the civilians on the right.

Once settled, he coughed to gain everyone's attention. "Thank you all for being able to attend. As we know, this meeting is to talk about the massacre that has happened this past week." He shifted through some papers in front of him. "We know the culprit was Itachi Uchiha, but we are still unaware of his reasons for killing his clan. As of now, Itachi Uchiha shall be an S-classed criminal with a flee on sight order" His declaration was followed by the sound of murmuring as the council members talked to one another silently.

Danzo tapped his cane on the ground to catch everyone's attention. "We know this already Sarutobi and this was not the reason the elders have called for this meeting."

Sarutobi felt dread flow through him at his declaration. "And what do you wish to discuss Danzo."

"What do you plan to do with the ones who survived the attack. I'm sure I speak for many others about our concern for the last remaining members of the Uchiha." Nods of agreement followed his statement from both sides of the room.

"ah… Sasuke has recovered fully from the genjutsu attack. I have told him that many of the villagers and clans have offered him a place to stay." He sighed heavily as he thought about the tortured child he had visited. "Sadly he has refused all my offers and wishes to stay in the Uchiha compound. So instead I have opted to place his family fortune in the hands of a trustworthy accounted who will see to his every need."

Danzo frowned "I believe that to be a waste Sarutobi. You should let him be put under my tutelage. As an Uchiha, we should make sure he grows up strong and loyal to our village."

Sarutobi scowled at his old friend. "I'm sorry, but the child is not ready to be put under such stressful conditions. He has only just recovered from his clans death.. Also, it would be better for him to go through the academy with other young children. I'm sure his interaction with others his age will help heal his heart and make his loyalty strong to the village." Words of agreement followed his decision.

Danzo held his anger in check. He knew better than try to argue with him when he had so many on his side. Besides, he had one more trick up his sleeve. " Very well, I will leave the matter of Sasuke in your hands. However, what will you do with the other child that survived the attack." Shocked gasps followed his statement as everyone begin to question the Hokage if Danzo's statement was true.

Sarutobi was furious, he specify made it clear to the nurses and Kakashi that the child's presence should be kept secret. He knew Kakashi wouldn't leak information to Danzo, so the only ones left were the few nurses and doctors who operated on her. It seemed he would have to speed up his plans. He hit the top of the table to silence the council. "The child in question is none of your concern Danzo." He glared at him and everyone else in the room. "I will give you no name, description, or anything else that may endanger the child's life. Itachi spared Sasuke's life only. If he was to learn another child survived the attack, then he may come back to finish her." He stood up and released a high amount of (1)KI. "Not a word about her survival will leave this room. Her life, blood-line, and name is now a A-class secret that is punishable from the revoke of your ninja or civilian status to being sentenced to death." He turned and begin to leave the room. "This meeting is over."

Once he reached his office, he sat down as his desk and ignored the stack of paperwork before him. Damn that Danzo, did he have to challenge everything he did. He lit his pipe as he turned to stare out over the city. Still, he had managed to at least ensure that no one outside the council would know of her. Tomorrow, Jiraiya would arrive in the afternoon and by then he should have everything ready to carry out his plan.

Another child with ,white hair, flashed across his mind. He couldn't allow Danzo to get his hands on that child either. He nearly smirked as he thought up a solution to his problem. It would be quite entertaining for him, and he almost felt sorry for Kakashi. It seemed that man wasn't born under a lucky star. He flared his chakra and an anbu member appeared inside his office. He gave the anbu an order to tell Kakashi to meet with him at 8:30 at the hospital and Gai to meet with him at the hospital at 9:30.

The anbu member puffed out of site as he went to deliver the messages. Sarutobi chuckled as he relaxed in his chair. Kakashi ,who was even late his meetings with the Hokage, would show up around 9 and Gai, who was always early, would come around 9:20. That would give him twenty minutes to set up his plan. After that, he would just have to wait until Jiraiya came at noon.

[…]

At nine in the morning, Kakashi puffed into the hospital lobby to see the Hokage waiting for him. Before he could do one of his "road of life" lies, Sarutobi interrupted him as he told him to follow him as he walked away. He led him into the child's room and closed the door. He performed a quick justu to seal of the room from spies before he turned to Kakashi with a serious look. "Kakashi I'm sure you know who this child is." Kakashi nodded as he heard the serious note in the Hokages voice. "This child was a member of the Uchiha clan and is a survivor like Sasuke. However, I have decided that I will not be announcing her survival. As you know, Itachi specifically aimed for Sasuke to be the only Uchiha alive. If he heard about her surviving, he may try and kill her." He turned towards Kakashi with a smile on his face. "That is why I am giving you a S-rank mission that will last many years kakashi."

Said man begin to worry about where this was going. "And what is the mission?"

"I've decided that this child will be staying with you."

"Hokage, I don't really see how this is the best for her. I am after all, a member of the anbu and I will be unable to watch her, much less raise her."

Sarutobi chuckled as he handed him some papers. "You are now no longer part of anbu but a jounin ranked ninja. Don't worry about needing money, for you will receive money every month to help with your finances." Seeing the shocked expression on Kakashi's face, he patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay Kakashi, but you are the only man for this job. You are one of the only ninja in my village that would be able to protect her if something went wrong. Plus, you would be the perfect person to teach her the mastery of the sharingan."

He hated to admit it, but the Hokage was right. He knew that the girls life was in danger and he could protect from most people. He also had mastery of the sharingan, a blood line the girl had. But the biggest reason he agree was that he felt like he owed this to Obito. He couldn't watch as one of Obito's clan members was killed or worse. He sighed "Very well Hokage, I accept this mission."

The Hokage chuckled "Then from now this child name will be Kotori Hatake. She will be the sister of Kakashi Hatake and will from now on live with you."

"meh, Hokage, how are we going to explain this to her when she wakes up. I'm sure that she won't just leave her clan name behind so easily. Plus last time we met, she was having a break down"

A sad smile appeared on Sarutobi's face. "You don't have to worry about that Kakashi. While we have kept her asleep since her attack, I had a Yamanaka check her mind for damage. It seems that most of her memories have been erased. She has no recollection of her family anymore. She most likely was having a panic attack when she woke up without any memories of who or where she was."

"I see… so you want me to be here when she wakes up to make her believe our cover story." He sighed as he looked down at the child. "It would be more believable if she looked like me."

"Don't worry about that Kakashi, I have called in someone to help with our situation. But first…" The Hokage looked up at the clock on the wall before he begin to leave the room. "I have another appointment to attend. So Kakashi, be back here in this room in this room in two hours." As the door closed behind him, a loud yell of Hokage-sama announced the arrival of Gai. Kakashi sighed as he pulled out his book and sat beside the girls bed. Maybe a good read would relax his nerves.

[…]

Outside the room, Sarutobi was meeting a loud man in green spandex. "Ah, Gai early as usual."

"Of course, Hokaga-sama, I would never waste a moment of youth and promised myself I would do 500 laps around konoho if I was late."

He interrupted him before Gai could continue on anymore. "I have called you hear today Gai because I have a mission for you." Gai face went serious at the mention of a mission. "It has to do with the child you found near the river. She clearly has a blood limit that has come from Orochimaru's experiments. I fear that he may come looking for her and I want her to be prepared to defend herself when she gets older."

"Your power of youth is quiet bright Hokage-sama. To worry for such a stranger is quite youthful. I too, have been worried about how she will live now."

Sarutobi smiled "That is good Gai. You see, I have decided to give you an A-rank mission. You are to take the child under your wing and help her grow up to defend herself."

Gai sputtered a little before he could fully form words. "Hokage-sama, you cannot mean that I would be adopting her."

"I see no problem with this arrangement. She has obviously grown attached to you and Naruto with her week long stay in the hospital. If it is money you are worried about then you need not worry. You will be given payments every month to help with her needs."

"I don't really think that I should accept this mission Hokage. I have no experience with children and I'm unaware on how to raise one."

The Hokage pretended to look sad before he began to walk away. " I see, I thought that you of all people could help me with this mission. Since, your rival has accepted a mission similar to this."

"My rival Kakashi has done what!"

Hokage stopped himself from smiling as Gai took the bait. "Kakashi has recently agreed to a mission that is very similar to yours. He too will be adopting a child and I simply thought that you ,as his rival, wouldn't want to fall behind."

"Hokage, you are most youthful. I happily accept this mission and vow to defeat my eternal rival Kakashi in the complement of this mission."

"Ah very good, then she will now have you last name. As for her first name I shall b-"

He was interrupted by Gai as he shouted out his chosen name "Chiharu! Her name will fit the youthful ninja that she will grow into." Gai grabbed the papers from the Hokage and ran off to tell Chiharu the "Good" news.

As he watched him run down the hall, the Hokage had one thought on his mind. _What have I done_

Moments later, Mio was scared awake when a sobbing Gai came busting through her door. "Gai-san, what's wrong. Why are you crying." She gasped in fear as a horrible thought popped into her mind. "Did something happen to Naruto?"

Gai regained enough control answer her question. "No, nothing un-youthful has happened to Naruto. Instead something most youthful has happened." He held up the adoption papers for her to see. "The Hokage has decided that I will be the one you will stay with when you live here. Starting tomorrow you will be living with me!"

"Really!" Mio was ecstatic at the news. Her good mood died instantly though. "But when will I be able to leave the hospital. I still don't know my name or anything that has happened to me this past year."

Gai gave her his signature pose. "Don't worry about such un-youthful things. I have come up with a most youthful name for you." He pointed at her. "You will now be known as Chiharu Maito. Even if you cannot remember some of your past. I will make sure that you will have a most youthful future!"

"Chiharu? My name will be Chiharu?" _I have a name now…_ Her eye begin to water as she looked up at Gai. "Thank you so much Gai! I will strive to be a most youthful daughter I can be." Gai and Chiharu hugged each other while crying. Thus was created the hug that would torture lee's teammate's and blind all who see it with youthfulness.

[…]

Two hours later, the Hokage walked into Kotori's room and was surprised to see that Kakashi was already there. In fact, it looked like he hadn't even left the room. He shook his head to clear that disastrous thought from his head. There was no way Kakashi was actually early to a meeting. "Ah, Kakashi has the person I called for arrived yet?"

Kakashi closed his book and put it in his bag before he answered. "By help, I take it you mean Jiraiya? Then, yes he has already come by as you can see from Kotori's hair." The Hokage looked to see that her hair was no longer black but now a silver color like Kakashi's. "I see, so he was able to put the seal on her. I'm sure he explained how the seal works to make her hair appear like that."

"Nope, he jumped in and put a seal on the back of her neck, After that he rushed off and shouted about doing some research."

"ah…cough, Then I don't think I'm needed anymore. I've instructed the nurses to release her from her forced sleep later on today so you two can get acquainted. Make sure not to forget Kakashi or be to late that she is asleep again before you get back." The Hokage quickly left the room as Kakashi sat back and took out his book again.

The day slowly dwindled into night as he sat beside the bed staring at his book. Shockingly, he wasn't actually reading his favorite porn book. His mind was shorting through everything that was going to happen in the future. He was going to raise a child. He would have to feed, water, clothe, shelter, and teach her ninja skills. Her teenage years would be hell and he didn't know how to help her deal with girl problems without it being embarrassing. What would happen when she started dating. An image of him chasing a teenager around Konoha with a Chidori in his hand flashed through his brain. Oh yeah… something like that probably would happen.

Movement to his right brought him out of his thoughts as he noticed that Kotori was waking up. Her eyes opened slowly and she stretched her stiff muscles from laying on the bed for so long. "Yo." She jumped and turned towards the voice to see a silver haired man with his lower face covered. "Who are you!"

He put away his book before answering. "Kakashi Hatake."

She stared at him suspiciously before recognition appeared in her eyes, "You the crazy man who busted through the door last night! What the hell are you doing in my room."

He rubbed the back of his head and his eye closed in his usual eye smile. "Why wouldn't I be here to see how my own sister is doing?"

"Sister? What you talking about. I'm not a gi-" She gasped in pain as a splitting headache caused her to hold her head in her hand. Kakashi was by her side in a instant. "Calm down, you still haven't fully recovered from you accident."

Still holding her head, she looked up at him with a confused look. "Accident? What acciden-" She went quiet as a look of horror swept across her face. "This can't be real. There is no way this is real." She looked at him with a desperate face. "Where am I? What's my name. Am I really a gir-" She gasped again as she held her head in pain.

"Calm down and lay back on the bed before you hurt yourself." said Kakashi as he made sure the child didn't fall off the bed. "Your in Konoho's hospital, your name is Kotori Hatake, and you're my sister. See?" He pointed across the room to a mirror that showed two silver haired people.

He watched as Kotori seemed to looked dazed at the mirror like she had never she what she looked like before. The two people in the room defiantly looked like siblings from what she could she. Both had the same absurdly silver color hair and black eyes. His mask covered his bottom face but she easily let that slide. Sibling never looked exactly alike anyways. Her musing was interrupted when a loud rumbling noise filled the room. She looked around until her eyes settle on her stomach as it rumbled again. She blushed before she looked up embarrassed. "Guess, I'm kind of hungry." Kakashi smiled underneath his mask before he stood up. "Guess, I can go find some food for us." Now that he remembered, he hadn't eaten anything today either. He wasn't going to eat hospital food and he was sure Kotori wouldn't want it either. "I'll be back with some food." He said before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kotori stared wide eyed at the spot that Kakashi had previously filled. "What the fuc-"

"**Finally! That man is gone!"**

She gave a small eep as she looked up to see Fate floating above her. "Oh, its just you fate… wait did I just eep a second ago?"

"**It doesn't matter! You can't let this chance pass you by. I've been waiting all week for your lazy ass to wake up. This is a perfect moment to fix Chiharu's memories before she leaves tomorrow."**

"Who is Chiharu? Wait! never mind that. Why in the hell did you change me into a girl!"

"**Are you still whining about that? Get over it, there is nothing you can do about it anyways. Oh, and Chiharu is Mio's new name. That weird guy in green gave it to her."**

"Yes I'm still peeved about having my gender changed. How would you like it if someone made you a boy?"

"**Don't care, never going to happened anyways. Now hold on, because were going to Chiharu's room!"**

"Wait! Let me get re-" thud "…ow." She sat up to find herself sitting on the floor beside Mi- I mean Chiharu as she slept.

"**Here we are, now hurry up and fix this so I can finally be done with this!"**

"Shut up!"

"**Sush, don't yell! You're going to wake her up."**

"uh, sorry, wait… ugh whatever, so how do I fix her?"

"**Just stand beside her and focus your chakra o her forehead and I'll do the rest."**

"Uh, chakra… what's that?"

"**Damn it, I know I left the memory of how to use chakra in you brain. Chakra, you know the thing that you use to do jutsus."**

"Uh… jutsus… chakra? Ugh." she held her head as pain flashed through her head momentarily. Images pasted through her mind as the previous owner memories showed what chakra and jutsu was. Moment later, the pain vanished. "…Okay that was weird, its not going to do that every time I try to remember something is it?"

"**Yep! Its going to hurt for the first couple of days until your soul fully changes to fit your body. By then you should be fully comfortable as a girl!"**

"Until my soul does what?"

"**It doesn't matter right now. Just put your hand on her head and channel your chakra through it!"**

"Okay, seesh. Bossy much?" Kotori placed the palm of her hand on Chiharu's forehead and used what little control of her chakra she had.

"**That's the best you can do? You suck at this man."**

"Hey don't blame me. She hasn't been a student that long."

"**Fine whatever. Here I go."**

Fate placed her hands on top of Kotori's and began to direct her chakra through Chiharu's brain. **"Keep pumping as much chakra as you can into her."** she instructed as she began to weave the chakra into a complex seal. Five minutes later and Kotori was close to collapsing. "Hurry up!"

"**What your already out of chakra? Fine whatever, this seal will still work with this much chakra. But for the final touch." **She placed a barrier around the chakra so that no mortal could sense it. Didn't want people to find out that Kotori had messed with another patients brain. **"All done."**

Kotori sighed in relief as she collapsed on the ground. "God, that was tiring." From her position on the floor, she looked up at Fate. "So did it work."

"**Yep, around a month from now, Chiharu should have all her memory back.**"

"…why a month."

"**Because someone here didn't have enough chakra for me to make the seal more efficient."**

"Ah, shut up"

"**Well, I finally completed those damn conditions you made for me. Better get you back before the silver hair guy finds you missing."**

"Wait don't drop me this ti-" thud "...ow" Kotori was now sprawled out on her own floor. "Bitch you did that on purpose."

"**Maybe… you'll never know."** Fate paused as a sad look crossed her face. **"Well, guess this is where are business ends."**

"What?"

"**I completed your tasks. So I'll be leaving now and we probably won't meet again unless you die or I really want to see you again."**

"Wait, you going to leave me like this are you? This is only temporary right?

"**Woops, sorry. Can't answer you right now, got business to take care of. Take care now!" **Fate said as she begin to fade.

"Wait!" yelled Kotori as Fate fully disappeared from sight. She stood there stunned. "This can't be real. This all is just one fucked up dream." She stumbled to the bed and fell onto it. "I'll wake up any minute now and I'll be my old self again."

A popping sound and a puff a smoke later, revealed Kakashi with a bag in one hand and his book in the other. "Sorry, it took so long, got lost on the road of life."He said as he stared in interest as Kotori smashed her face into her pillow and screamed.

* * *

1) KI = Killing Intent

**AN:** Poor Kotori, no longer is he named josh or a male. At least things are looking up for Chiharu. She gets her memory back and a youthful father.

Next Chapter:** Going Ninja**


	5. Going Ninja

**AN:** Sorry about not having a chapter last week. Was out of town all weekend and didn't feel like rushing to type a new chapter. Anyways, this week I decided to make two chapters to not fall behind in my chapter releases. This one should be up Saturday and the next one up by Sunday.

**NobodyInParticular:** Thank you very much for bringing those mess up in my names to my attention. I fixed them and I hope I don't get Hayate and Hatake mixed up again.

* * *

**Going Ninja**

"I'm going to be living in this dump?" was the first words that passed Kotori's lips as she stared at her new home. It looked just like he described it to her, medium sized living room, small kitchen, one bathroom, and two small bedrooms beside each other. The only things that were wrong with the apartment were the inches of dust, clothes, and dirty books that layered the place. She turned to him with a deadpanned look. "I take back what I said about being happy I was living with you instead of the green dude. I think his place would at least be clean and be free of adult magazines covering the place"

Kakashi wasn't one to be embarrassed about showing of his perverted possessions. He was renown for reading his favorite adult literature out in the open after all. His only reaction was to give her a smile through his mask. "I'm sure Gai would love to have another student he could teach his youthful ways to. I'm also sure Chiharu would love to have a friend to play with since she is new to the village."

A look of horror crossed her face as she thought of being possessed by the "youth" the man always spouted about. She almost ran into his apartment as she tried to fix the situation. "On second thought, I think I'll take your pervertedness over his youth any day." She checked out the place while Kakashi sat on his couch and pulled out his favorite book. "So which room is mine?" She asked. "You can have either one" he said without taking his eyes off his book. "I usually don't use the rooms anyway." She looked at him in surprise before she checked both of the rooms. Both had layers of dust and looked like they had been unused for long time. "Then where the hell do you sleep at?" He sighed as he seemed to think about it. "Usually I sleep on the couch, but I often find myself sleeping at the place I work out instead."

She shook her head at him. _Well that explains why the everything is so dusty and why the living room is so dirty. _She walked into the kitchen and almost screamed as something blue, fuzzy, and wiggly inhabited her refrigerator. She gagged and stumbled out of the kitchen before she screamed at Kakashi. " When was the last time you cleaned out the refrigerator! Better yet, when was the last time you even brought food into this place." The answering silence and his thoughtful look was all she needed to know. "For the love of God, is there anything here that isn't harmful to my health?" He shrugged and looked around before answering. "I don't think my adult literal is all that unhealthy." A loud thump echoed across the room as she smashed her head against the wall. "…I'm leaving. I'll be staying at Gai's house from now on and I'll probably ask you to a youthful challenge next time we meet."

Kakashi tried to calm her down as she tried to march out of the house. "I'm sure your all pumped up to live with Gai and all." A burning glare of hatred pierced his soul after his comment but he simply shrugged it off. "But I'm sure if we do some cleaning and little fixing up with the place, then you wouldn't find it so bad." She frowned at him before she nodded her head. "Fine, but I'm not touching any of that shit in the kitchen. That blue thing tried to eat me a second ago. And you are cleaning up the living room yourself. I'll clean the bedrooms and bathroom."

Kakashi merely sighed as he nodded his head. It was fair after all, he couldn't have her clean up after him. He was the adult after all and it was his job to watch her. …Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to accept this mission. The sound of his door opening brought his attention to Kotori. "Are you still leaving?" She looked at him with a serious expression. "Were both going shopping right now! We going to need some serious cleaning materials to fix this place, some food so we don't starve, and I need some clothes beside the hospital gown and your hand me downs." As he listened to her make a shopping list, he felt the extra mission money he received earlier slip away.

[…]

Chiharu was having the time of her life. She had been in this strange new village for little over a month and she was already planning on never leaving. She had a new home that was actually nice and comfortable. The only place she couldn't stand to go in was the training room. She nearly died when the smell of sweat, old clothes, and the vapors of "youth" attacked her nose. Gai was another reason she was so happy. He was a little strange… well okay really strange, but he was very nice and totally different from any caretaker she had. He actually fed her good food, looked after her, and was even taking her shopping for new clothes.

She looked up at said man as she walked beside him. He had his usual grin on and was carrying all the bags that they had collected. They had gathered tonight's dinner and were now on their way to get some additional clothes for her. Nothing could ruin her good mood she was in. A sharp pain speared through her head, causing her to flinch in pain. Except that she was slowly and painfully gaining her memories back. All week she had been having these pains and this morning she had woken up with a headache accompanied by a name, Mio. She never told Gai about her memories coming back though. With the return of her memories, she was afraid that he would deem it unnecessary to keep watching her.

"Chiharu!" She snapped out of her thoughts as Gai called out to here. She looked up to see she had fallen behind. "Coming!" she yelled has she jogged back to his side. "Sorry Gai, I wasn't paying attention and kind of fell behind." He looked at with concern. "Are you okay? You've been rather quiet since this morning." She immediately waved her hands and front of her and shook her head. "N-no I was just to intent on… what type of clothes I want!" A brief paused followed her statement as she panicked inside her mind. _Gai would never fall for something so obvious. What if he finds out I'm hiding my memories from him._ He stared at her for another second before he laughed loudly. "It is nice to see you are so youthful in what type of clothes you wear. I too have chosen my attire to show my youthful flames to the world." She nearly faceplanted as he bought her bad excuse and told her of all about how youth was shown through one's choice in clothes.

His monologue was interrupted when they ran into non-other than Gai's self proclaimed rival Kakashi. The legendary copy cat ninja had bags of groceries containing cleaning supplies and food draped over both his arms. Civilians and Gai alike were shocked to see him in such a random way. Never had anyone seen him without his book or with groceries. He smirked before he dragged Chiharu across the road to stand in front of Kakashi. "My eternal rival Kakashi! How are you doing on this fine day!"

Kakashi looked towards Gai before he gave him a deadpanned look. "Did you say something Gai?" Gai gritted his teeth before pointed at him. "Damn you and your hip ways Kakashi." His rant was interrupted when a silver haired child flung a bag filled with food at Kakashi. "Where the hell did you go! I was walking along and bam you were gone. I spent over five minutes looking for you." Kakashi caught the bag and placed it over his arm with the others. "Sorry we got separated. Wouldn't believe how thick the crowd got. Then Gai here stopped me before I could find you." In the few days Kotori had come to know Kakashi, she had noticed that he lied, a lot. However, it seemed he was telling the truth since the green beast… man… ,whatever he was, stood beside him. "Fine… sorry I threw the bag at you." He smiled at her and secretly enjoyed that he had just lied his way out of trouble. Gai was actually good for something beside annoying him it seemed.

"Ah, I see that you are also taking your child to go shopping as well." Gai's loud voice brought their attention to him and Chiharu who was trying to look small behind him. The current situation was so embarrassing. These people were acting like children in the middle of the crowd. "What's wrong Chiharu?" He laughed as he mistook her action for shyness. "It's alright to be shy around new people, but I assure you that Kakashi and his young charge will be most youthful friends you can have." She blushed as all the attention came to focus on her. "um…H-hi, my name is Chiharu." Both Kakashi and Kotori said "Yo"at the same time. She felt a small grin on her face when both paused and looked at each other weirdly before they introduced themselves.

Kotori walked right up to her and held at her hand. _Better make it seem like I don't know her to make sure no one gets suspicious. _"So your Chiharu huh? Names Kotori, although you can just call me Tori if you want. It's a lot easier for me to remember and say." Chiharu shook her hand and smiled warmly at her. Maybe she could be her third friend she could make. Her first, even if Tayuya would never admit, was her, then Naruto, and maybe now Kotori. "Oh, and the silver haired dude behind me is Kakashi." She gave a polite hello to him and he gave a small wave with a smile. She then looked down to see the groceries he was carrying. "Are you two also going shopping for new clothes and food?" Kotori gave a small sigh as she mentally went through her shopping list. "Well yeah, but we also needed a bunch of cleaning shit as well. I swear, I'm surprised this guy is even alive right now. Luckily, he has me now or I'm sure the fuzzy, blue monster would grow powerful enough to eat him in the future." Chiharu gave a confused smile as she looked at Kakashi. He only shrugged the comment off before he turned to converse with Gai. She turned back to Kotori. "Well, I kind of know how you feel since Gai's training room smells like a dumpster." Kotori gave her a exasperated look. "I'll take that over what I saw in Kakashi's kitchen." She giggled at what Kotori said. What a strange pair these two were.

Kakashi interrupted them when he noticed how late it was getting. "We should hurry if you want to be able to get some clothes before the stores close." Kotori looked up at the sky before cursing. "Sorry I got to get going." Both her and Kakashi waved at them before they began to walk away. They paused when Gai called out to them. "Chiharu also needs some clothes as well. I'm sure these two would love to shop together." Kakashi looked down at Kotori with a exasperated look in his eyes. It seemed he had enough time with Gai already. She opened her mouth to refuse but stopped when she noticed the hopeful look on Chiharu's face. An inner battle begin as she looked between her pleading face and Kakashi's. Finally she sighed before nodded. "Fine, you can come too." Two loud cheers drowned out Kakashi's sigh as they joined their group.

[…]

Naruto walked down the street in a gloomy mood. This week had been one of the worst he had in awhile. His new friend had disappeared from the hospital, Sasuke was suddenly receiving so much attention as the last Uchiha, and ,worst of all, Sakura actually liked the bastard. He was the only Uzumaki he knew of and didn't get any of that attention he received or any girls liking him. It just wasn't fair to his seven year old mind. His mood only got worse as he turned onto a busy street and felt all the glares he usually received. He always hated walking down this street to go home, but he didn't feel like taking the back way home.

A loud yell about youth brought his attention to a weird looking group that was standing in the middle of the street. They seemed to be split on which store they wanted to go into. He looked at them weirdly before his brain registered that the weird looking guy in green was the one who visited his friend as well. He felt a tiny bit of hope push some of his gloom away. Maybe he would know what happened to his friend and he might even know where she is. He jogged towards the group "Hey eyebrow dude!" His yell attracted the attention of everyone. Most thoughts were on how could the demon brat even think of talking to likes of Gai and Kakashi. Many were hoping that he would be punished by said ninjas for the boys arrogance. Sadly, well for them anyways, neither option happened but were instead surprised by the greeting he received.

Gai and the others turned to see a blonde kid jogging towards them with a overly large grin on his face. "Who the hell is that kid, and what in the hell is he wearing!" said Kotori as she checked out the newcomer. A gasp to her right told her that Chiharu had noticed the boy seconds after she did. "Gai, isn't that Naruto!" Before he could answer, Naruto yelled out in surprise when he noticed Chiharu. He ran up excitedly to them while yelling his head off about how he was trying to find her and where the heck she went.

Kotori watched chaos ensue as Gai, Naruto, and Chiharu all tried to talk at the same time. She felt a headache start to form as they only got louder and louder. She looked over to see Kakashi wasn't so happy about this new situation either. Of course, she also noticed the sudden feeling of people staring daggers in her direction. Besides Kakashi and her, the others didn't seem to notice the change in the crowd. She arched a brow at Kakashi with a questioning look on her face. "Okay… why the hell is everyone looking at us like were criminals or something?" Kakashi looked around before he sighed. "meh… its not really us there glaring at, but Naruto instead." She gave a confused look at him as she tried to see why. "Why would they be glaring at him? Did he do something bad?" Kakashi actually looked sad for a moment before he replied. "No… he didn't do anything wrong. Well, besides some pranks, but nothing to warrant this attention. However, I can't really tell you why."

Before she could pester him further, Gai's loud voice interrupted her. "Kakashi, it seems that Naruto has lit the flames of youth in young Chiharu here." Kotori whirled around in horror at his announcement. "What did you say?" Chiharu looked as confused as them as Gai continued. "Naruto here has a most youthful dream. He has boasted to Chiharu that he would be the greatest Hokage ever. His most youthful dream has lit burning passion in Chiharu to become a most youthful ninja." Kakashi looked at Gai with a serious expression behind his mask. "Gai, you do know that being a ninja is dangerous work. Are you sure she should so readily join the academy after leaving the hospital?" Gai gave his signature pose as he announced his plan. "I myself will personal see to it that she becomes a most splendid ninja."

Kotori almost faceplanted as she thought of what kind of ninja he had in mind. After clearing the image out of her head, she ignored the rest of the conversation as she thought of the current change of events. _This isn't good. The blonde idiot over there just made Chiharu decide to become a freaking ninja of all things. How in the hell do I fix this. _She looked at Chiharu as she excitedly talked to Naruto about her future at the academy. _Well looks like I can't convince her to not join. Sabotage her grades so she fails? No, I couldn't something so mean to her. Hmm… I could maybe ask the old dude to not let her into the academy. Of course, he probably want an explanation. I can easily see how that conversation will end. "Hey, I'm actually a guy put in this body to watch over her by fate. I really don't like how your making my job harder." … Yeah, I would be put in the hospital all over again for a different reason. The last option would be to join the academy as well so I could at least be close enough to protect her. Although, I don't think I would be in the same class since I seem to already have some skill. Eh, whatever, I'll join and wing it from there."_

With her decision made, she turned to Kakashi with a serious face. "I want to join the academy as well." Kakashi looked at her in surprise. Where in the heck did that request come from. "meh, I don't really see why you couldn't join but why the sudden interest." She crossed her arms and looked away. "I don't know, just seems like it could be interesting that's all." He merely stared at her before he nodded. "Fine with me, I'll make sure to register you later." Gai laughed as he heard his announcement. "It seems that Kotori will be a most welcome rival to Chiharu in the future Kakashi. I can't wait to see their most youthful battle as they strive to be superb ninjas." Kakashi sighed as he started to walk away with Kotori quickly following him. "meh, I'll leave that to them to decide. However, it seems I will have to take Kotori to a ninja shop before the end of the day. So we'll see you later Gai." Gai gave a hearty laugh as Chiharu waved goodbye to her new friend. "See you later Kakashi and Kotori."

[…]

Amazingly, Kotori surprised him by not actually taking hours to choose clothes for school. Her choice in clothes was also surprising as well. It was just so… gender neutral, unlike most girls her age would choose. Her casual clothes were mostly made up of blue or black shorts, slacks, and t-shirts. Her ninja clothes she chose were still a mystery to him though. She had insisted on going in alone at the ninja store. He didn't understand why but nodded as he leaned against the wall and took out his book. It took less then thirty minutes for her to come out with a bag of weapons, a bag of clothes, and another bag that was smaller than the rest. He wasn't able to get a good look at it as Kotori hid it behind her back with a blush before telling him she was ready to go home.

Once inside his house, he almost fell gratefully onto his couch. Finally, the shopping trip was over. It took longer thanks to Gai's interference, but he guessed it wasn't as bad as it could have been. A cough brought his attention to Kotori as she stood near him in a yellow apron holding cleaning supplies. _When did she get an apron?_ "I hope you aren't thinking we are done here Kakashi. We got to clean this place up before we can relax." He sighed as he slowly stood. He really didn't want to have to do this, but he got the feeling he wouldn't be able to read his book any time soon if he didn't help.

After hours of cleaning, cursing ,mostly from Kotori, and a fireball justu, from Kakashi when he met the monster in the refrigerator, the house was clean. Kakashi felt relief as he finally finished cleaning up the last of his books. Now, maybe he could actually get some reading in before the next day started. He also noticed that Kotori had been strangely quiet. A quick look at the couch showed him that she had fallen asleep while cleaning. The sight caused some of his annoyance to disappear. He picked her up and carried her to her now clean room. Once she was settled, he returned back to his couch and pulled out his book for a late night read. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. He had survived the first week of watching after her. Maybe he could actually pull off this whole family thing.

[…]

A week later, Chiharu was standing in front of a class with Iruka standing beside her. "Quiet down everyone, today we have a new student who has recently moved her. Her name is Chiharu. Give her a warm greeting everyone." The entire class chorused a welcome to her before they all went back to talking again. Iruka smiled down at her as she tried to not look as nervous as she felt. "Don't worry about them. They're good kids who just don't know when to stop talking." Chiharu gave a small giggled before Iruka told her to find a seat.

She looked around the room hoping to find Naruto and an open seat beside him. Strangely she didn't see him even though she was positive that he was suppose to be in the same room as her. She looked else ware for a open seat. There was one near a dark haired boy who looked unhappy but she quickly shut that down when she felt killing intent from a pink haired girl and a blonde hair girl. Finally, she decided to sit between a quiet girl who had a large coat and a guy with an even larger coat on. The girl actually squeaked when she said hello to her. The girl stuttered a little before she finally told her that her name was Hinata. The boy beside her introduced himself as Shino in a rather mature sounding way that left her kind of confused.

Minutes later, Naruto came barging through the door in a panic as he tried to not be late for once. Sadly, he had just interrupted Iruka as he began the lesson earning him a earful for being late. After his scolding, he bounded up the stairs and sat behind Chiharu. He gave a face splitting grin as he finally had someone to actually talk to in class. "Hey Chiharu!" She smiled back at him as she said hello. To her left, Hinata had gone completely red while taking quick breaths. Her crush Naruto was right behind her. She slightly turned her head to catch him grinning at them before she promptly fainted at the sight. "Hinata!" cried Chiharu as the girl collapsed into her lap. She began to panic as Hinata remain unresponsive and Naruto wasn't helping much as he tried to find out why she had fainted. Soon the entire classroom was in an uproar as Iruka tried to calm them down and see to Hinata. The only quiet ones were Shikamaru, who was asleep, Sasuke, who didn't give a damn, and Shino as he sat silently beside his new classmate. The only thing he did do was sigh as he felt the once quiet atmosphere he had was gone forever.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was escorting Kotori towards her classroom. "Kakashi, why do I get the feeling that I'm going to be late for class?" He looked down at her as he shrugged nonchalantly. "I have no idea what you mean." She gave a small grunt as she didn't take the bait for a new argument to form. One thing she had learned in her time with him was that he would always be late for almost everything. She caught him staring at he from the side of his eye. " Why have you been staring at me the entire time since we left the house." He quirked his eyebrow at her. "Just wondering why you chose to wear that certain outfit." She frowned at him, or at least it looked like she frowned at him. It was a surprise for him when he seen her this morning in her ninja garb. She had black ninja slacks, purple fingerless gloves that stretched to her forearm, a purple undershirt, and a black vest on over it. However, the most surprising thing he saw, was that she had a purple mask that was eerily familiar to his. He didn't know if he should feel flattered or annoyed that she seemed to have copied part of his ninja style.

"Hey, your not the only person who can wear a mask to hide their face. Plus, there is an actually reason I'm doing this you know. I'm not just coping you for no reason." He turned towards her with actual interest showing in his eye. "Oh, and what would that be?" She actually blushed before she turned away. "It's a secret that I'll never tell you." He actually chuckled as her reaction before he stopped at a door. "This is it." She nodded at him before he opened the door and stepped in.

The teacher looked at them in annoyance as they interrupted her classroom. "What is it?" Kakashi simply gave her an eye smile before he pushed Kotori forward. "Her is the new student your were told about yesterday." The women looked less than pleased as she looked at the clock. "And why exactly is she coming into my classroom an hour late?" Kotori actually balked in horror as Kakashi spouted out one of his usual excuses. "Sorry we were late, but we had to save a dog from a cat." Giggles erupted at his lame excuse and the teacher face flushed in rage. Kotori only groaned out in frustration as everything spiraled out of control. Why… Oh, why couldn't she just get a simple break.

* * *

**AN: **ah, first days are always the worst days for new students. Don't you guys agree, especially for Chiharu and Kotori.

Next Chapter: **Academic Years**

Yes, i have decided to put all five years of their time in school in one chapter. I'm sure i could type a chapter for each year, but there wouldn't be much a of a point. Besides increasing the number of chapters you would have to read and that I would have to wright.


	6. Academic Years

**An: **A quick note before I get into this chapter. I will **not** be making Naruto an amazing ninja right of the bat. He will still be the dead last at the beginning of the story. Although, he **will** get stronger a lot more quickly than he did in the manga. I happened to like Naruto when he was young. He was annoying at times, but his personality made him one of my favorites characters. Anyways, I plan on making him grow with his teammates instead of him being light years ahead of them.

* * *

**Academic Years**

Kotori's first year in the academy was horrible. She was barely a student for a week before she already hated it with a passion. The teacher was a bitch, Neji, the top student, was an asshole, fan girls were everywhere, and she was doing **mediocre **in school. She was never this bad in school during her old life… or at least she thought she wasn't. Lately, it seemed that it was harder and harder for her to remember just what life had been like before she died. At first she had panicked, but as time went on , she kind of got use to the feeling. Not much she could do about it since that life was over and done.

Anyways, back to more important stuff. She wasn't the worst person in class, but the one person she **wanted** to beat so badly was Neji. He always blabbed about fate and constantly looked down on other kids. She had immediate challenged him and promptly got her ass beat. He beat her in **everything** that they did in the academy. She of course couldn't stand for that and went crazy studying everything she could. She had challenged him every week on the weekly test that was held to see how they were coming along. A month of trying later and three more beatings, and she wasn't any closer than she was the first time.

That all changed though when Kakashi eventually asked her why she would return home with bruises each week on the same day. He had noticed the first time she had limped into his home but hadn't said anything. However, after seeing her come back each week with new bruises, he had finally got worried enough to ask why. She of course, wasn't happy about having to explain to him about her getting her ass kicked every week. He almost chuckled at her less than happy face. Although, he was kind of peeved as well. His sister was being beat up in front of her class repeatedly. He could tell her to give up, but knew by now that her personality wouldn't let her. So he casually let it slip that he could train her if she wanted to beat Neji. She had taken his offer in a heartbeat. He chuckled as he thought of how she would probably regret accepting his training so easily.

His prediction was right. In the months that followed, she had been to tired to even challenge Neji to a fight anymore. Of course, that actually turned out to be a good thing as she had extra time to actually make some friends. Tenten, Lee, Chiharu, Naruto, Hinata, and Shino were here closest friends she had in school. During class, she sat beside Tenten and Lee so she wouldn't be bored out of mind. At lunch, they would eat together with the others most of the time.

This was also the time when she would study Naruto. He was the most mysterious out of all the people she had met. She just didn't understand why everyone hated him so much. True, he was kind of annoying, wasn't to bright, wore to much orange, and was really loud, but that still didn't justify why everyone was so hateful towards him. What amazed her most though, was the way Naruto took it all and was still such a happy person. Every time he saw her or his other friends, he would smile so happily that it was almost heartbreaking. Just what kind of life had he been living before she had met him? To be so happy just to see someone who actually didn't hate him. Little did she know, that she would see the village cruelty towards him first hand.

]

A years later and Kotori was now in the top five of her class thanks to Kakashi's training. Although, it still irked her that she couldn't beat Neji, but at least it wasn't so one sided when they fought now. Chiharu was ranked second in her year, behind Sasuke. You could easily tell that Gai had been training her in Taijutsu since she was the best in class. However, Sasuke was still better at the other subjects then she was. Poor Naruto was still the dead last of his group. Chiharu and Kotori had tried to help him, but he just couldn't seem to get the Bunshin right. He did however come up with a **unique** henge that made Chiharu blush and Kotori actually laugh.

Naruto had changed over the two years she had known him. He was still the loud, orange loving, prankster he had always been, but the smile he always wore was more genuine. He was actually happy for real instead of faking it to hide his pain. Of course, she should have known that many people would notice the change in him. Those very same people were not pleased to know that the "demon" was actually happy. So they decided that it was up to them to make the "demon" know that it had no right to be happy.

They struck when Naruto and Chiharu were leaving the school for the day. Kotori and Hinata had both got stuck with cleaning duty, so they couldn't join them on their walk home like they usually did. A group of three men had been "casually" lingering around the road they usually took home. When they saw Naruto, they begin to walk towards him while trying to act nonchalant. Naruto wouldn't have been fooled by this display since he had seen it many times, but he was currently distracted by Chiharu. The next thing he knew, a fist slammed into his gut. He dropped to his knees in pain as Chiharu screamed.

She watched in horror as many blows followed the first. She screamed at them to stop as she tried to tug a bald man away from her friend. The bald man slapped her across the face as he freed himself from her. "Shut up girl, you have no idea what kind of demon your trying to protect." She held her cheek as she cried "Naruto is not a demon, why would you say that." The bald man grabbed Naruto hair and yanked him up as he showed her his bruised face. "Don't be fooled by his looks, this boy is a demon who deserve to die in the most painful way." She flinched as he punched naruto as to emphasis his statement. "Naruto not the demon here, it's you guys who are."

That didn't sit to well with them. "Oh, it seems we got a demon lover here guys. Well I know what we do we those." She skidded across the ground as the man kicked her in the stomached. She curled up in pain and gasped for air. "Don't hurt Chiharu!" Came the sudden scream from Naruto. The man laughed as he walked over to kick her again. "Aw, isn't that cute. The little demon actually likes the girl." He grinned as he continued to kick her as she curled up in a ball to try block his kicks. Naruto clawed at his captors hand as he tried to attack the man hurting his friend. Finally he got a good strike in as he bit down as hard as he could on the mans hand. The man yelped and released his hold as he held his bleeding hand. "The bastard bit me!" He quickly scampered away as he yelled at the them. You bastards are a bunch of cowards! You can't even take me on by yourselves and have to team up to beat up a child like me." He turned and begin to run away. "The demon's getting away! After the little bastard!" They chased after him and left Chiharu to lay on the road in agony

Minutes later, Hinata and Kotori found her laying in the road. "Chiharu, what the in the hell happened to you!" said Kotori in a worried voice as she knelt beside her. Chiharu began crying as she tried her best to tell them what happened through her swollen jaw. When she finished, Kotori was shaking with rage but tried to speak calmly to sooth Chiharu. "Everything's going to be fine. Don't worry about Naruto, I'll make sure his okay. Now I need you to point in which direction he went." Chiharu lifted a shaking hand and pointed down the street. "H-he w-went that w-way." She nodded before standing up and turning to Hinata. "Hinata, I need you to help Chiharu get back to academy. Once there, tell Iruka what happened. He should be able to get some help." Hinata shakily nodded before she tried to gently help Chiharu up.

Once they were on their way to the school, Kotori began to sprint down the road to look for Naruto. Minutes passed, and she still couldn't find him anywhere. Dread began to fill her as she began to think that she may never find him. A loud scream of pain made skid to a stop in front of an alley. She instantly ran into the alley to only stop in shock at what she saw. Naruto once bright blonde hair had blood caked all it, his clothes were torn and bloody, and his face ,that usually wore a grin, was swollen be on belief. Raged filled her as she saw his attackers were actually laughing at him.

"You bastards!" She yelled as she charged the men before her. They whirled around in surprise as she landed a kick to the bald man face. He fell backwards clutching his face as the other two defended themselves. She punched, kicked, bit, and whatever else she could to tear this man apart for what they did to Naruto. All the training she had with Kakashi, she put to use against the grown man. Sadly, a ten year old punches were not that effective against a grown man. Especially when there were three of them fighting her at the same time. A glancing blow caused her to stumble and leave herself open to a solid fist to the face. She flew back and collided with the wall. Shakily she stood back up to continue fighting but screamed in pain as the bald man picked her off the ground by her hair.

She scratched at his arm in a vain attempt to make him let go. A brutal punch to her head put an abrupt end to her attempt at escape. "You bitch, how dare you kick me in the face. Are you one of those demon lovers as well." She glared at him as best she could. "Fuck you, you the demons here for beating the shit out of a kid." Another blow to the face was all she received for her smart mouth. "A fool like you doesn't even know what she's talking about. That child is a fucking demon that doesn't deserve to live, much less be happy." She laughed at him spitefully. "You're the fool here. All I see is a kid, while your old brain must have decayed enough for you to be seeing things." The man's face turned red from rage as he begin to beat her for her insolence. He stopped when he saw her still staring at him in defiance. "I really don't like the look in you eyes." He pulled at a hidden knife and grinned as he showed it to her. "How about I fix them for you." He laughed as he saw her eyes widen in fear.

He was interrupted when a small rock collided with the man's head from behind. He turned to see that the Naruto was standing shakily on his legs. "Leave Tori alone!" He began to laugh as the other two men walked back over to Naruto with a grins on their faces. "Seems the demon doesn't like it when we hurt his bitch." A loud cracking sound filled the air as naruto fell to the ground screaming in pain as he held his now broken leg. "That will teach you to try tell us what to do demon." The bald man laughed as he continued to hold a crying Kotori in the air. "That was a pretty nice hit there man. Lets see if you can do any better."

She stiffened as she heard him actually tell the man to hurt Naruto even worse. Time seem to slow as she looked through watery eyes at the men before her. They were all **laughing** at Naruto's pain. Not only that, they were going to **compete** with each other to see who could inflict the best damage. Something snapped inside her as she focused her eyes on the face of the man holding her. She was going to **kill** them.

The bald man stopped laughing as he felt Kotori grab the arm he was holding her with. He turned to her with a sneer on his face. "Still trying to fight." A cold smile formed on her face as she opened her eyes and stared at him. His face went pale when he saw red eyes with two tomoe's in each eye. "No…" She used his arm as a leverage and kicked the knife out of his hand and into the air. She then twisted her body to latch her legs on the mans arm. "I'm going to **kill **you."

A loud snap and scream of pain brought the other two men's attention to the fight behind them. The bald man was screaming in pain at his now broken arm as Kotori twisted in the air to land on all fours. Her eyes didn't even blink as she shot forward to catch the falling knife she had kicked in the air. She ducked under the man clumsy punch with his remaining arm before jumping up and plunging the knife into under his chin and through his brain. She didn't even notice as blood exploded unto her face as she flipped over the mans shoulder and used his dead body as a spring board. The second man didn't even get time to defend himself as her body smashed into his. He died instantly as the knife tore through his heart. She yanked the knife out of him and stood up as blood dripped from her face and hands. The third man screamed in terror and started to run away. Her eyes locked onto his fleeing form as she twirled the blade in her hand. She threw the blade and watched with an impassive face as it embedded into the back of the mans head.

She slowly turned towards Naruto to see he had fainted from the pain. She stumbled towards him as she felt her strength start to leave her. She needed to get him to a hospital before she could rest. She stopped when Kakashi suddenly appeared along with Gai and Iruka. He instantly understood the situation as he saw the dead bodies, a badly beaten Naruto, and a bloody Kotori whose was turned away from him. He gave orders to Iruka to get Naruto to the hospital and Gai to get a team to clean up the mess before others saw it. A small empty laugh interrupted him as Kotori turned towards him. He looked in shock as he saw the girls sharigan staring at him. "You're late." she said before fainting.

[…]

Thanks to his healing ability, Naruto was only in the hospital for a week. Chiharu had to stay for one day to make sure nothing was broken before she got the clear to leave. Kotori had to stay in the hospital for three days due to her injuries and slight chakra exhaustion. When she had first woken up, Kakashi was beside her bed reading his favorite series. She took one look at him before busting into tears. That didn't make him feel any better as he blamed himself for not getting there quick enough. Due to his failure, she had killed at an earlier age then he had hoped for. He tried his best to calm her down as he told her everything was going to be okay. He made sure of it after he dropped her off at the hospital. He reported directly to the Hokage and told him what he what had happened. They both agreed to cover this up so Naruto or Kotori wouldn't get in trouble.

Chiharu visited both Kotori and Naruto every day. Naruto at first was feeling guilty about them being hurt because of him. He had even gone so far as to say that they shouldn't be friends anymore. Chiharu had gone crying to Kotori after he said that. Soon after, he found himself holding his head in pain as he received a bonk on the head from a angry girl in a hospital gown. He quickly got that idea out of his head when she was done with him.

Soon they were all back to studing at the academy like old times. Well, there was some changes outside of school for them. Kakashi had upped her training and revealed the bloodline limit she had. He had revealed his other eye to her and explained what it could do. Now she was training even more than before, but didn't complain once. She had been too weak to defend her friends. If it hadn't been for her sharigan awakening, she would have watch as Naruto died in front of her.

Chiharu training was increased by Gai as well. She never wanted to feel so helpless again. All she had done, was cry as they had beaten her and Naruto up. She began to train not only her taijutsu but her blood limit as well. What good was her ability to control ice, if she couldn't even use it in a fight.

Naruto trained harder than ever as well. He never did ask anyone to train him though. He wasn't sure if anyone would. He thought about asking Iruka, but decided not to since he knew he was busing teaching the entire class. He would spend entire nights at training fields practicing his kunai throwing and bunshin.

They also found themselves being "escorted" to school by Gai or Kakashi every day. Kotori almost had a heart attack when she saw Kakashi standing at the gates "in time" to escort her home.

[…]

So years slowly passed as they grew both in body and strength. Kotori had quickly shown Kakashi that she was adept at Ninjutsu. Her sharigan and natural chakra control of her clan made her learn quickly and easily. However, her true talent was Genjutsu. She absorb all knowledge quiet easily and had already begun creating her own by the time she was twelve. However, she was average in taijutsu, but that could be covered with the help of her sharigan. She was fast but lacked in physical strength do to her gender. Kakashi pegged her as a high genin or low Chunin when she graduated from the academy.

She had tied for rookie of the year with Neji. She had laughed as she saw the quiet rage she had seen on his face. Sadly, Tenten and Lee were both placed on the bastards team while she was teamed up with two annoying guys. She didn't even know there names and they kept trying to hit on her or get her to show her face to them. She was even less impressed with her Jonin-sensei, Genma. He had this bandana tied on backwards to where the knot was on his forehead. A senbon needle in his mouth that he didn't take out even when he talked. She almost punched him in the face when he gave them the rules to the survival test. Two people would stay back and fight him and the last person would go and grab him some dango to eat. However, they would fail if the two fighting him were defeated before he got his dango.

Instantly, the two boys decided that they were the best to fight him while she went and got the dango. She almost punched them in the face at their sexist attitudes. They were right but they thought that for the wrong reason. Out of all of them, she was the fastest and most likely to get back here in the shortest amount of time. Once they decided on their approach, they told Genma they were ready. The moment he shouted begin, she disappeared from sight in a blur. Genma was actually surprised by her speed for a moment before he smirked. _Guess I shouldn't underestimate Kakashi sibling._

Kotori flew across the rooftops in the towards the only place she knew that sold dangos. It would take her five minutes to reach the place and five to get back. Crap, that's without taking into account on having to wait for them to cook it. There is no way they would last over ten minutes against a jonin. She would simply have to take some that were already cooked and leave some money behind to pay for it.

At the restaurant she was headed for, Anko was relaxing in a chair as she waited for her meal. She licked her lips as she smelt the scent of dango hung in the air. It had been over a week since she had dango. That was one week to many in her own opinion. A loud yell brought her attention to a waiter who had been knocked over. He stood up yelling "thief" as a masked girl flew out the door. Anko merely smirked as she didn't budge to help. Why should she help any of those bastards. Besides her dango would get cold. Moments later the very same waiter walked up to her with a scared face. "I-I'm sorry A-Anko but s-somebody j-just stole y-your d-dango." Anko was gone in a flash as she chased down the thief that dared to steal **her** dango.

Kotori was chuckling madly as she raced to get back to the training ground. She had just stolen something as stupid as a dango from a restaurant. All those years of training from Kakashi were finally being put to a good use… Yeah, right. Suddenly she heard a something akin to a screech from behind her. She turned her head to see a crazy purple haired lady chasing her with a scary look on her face. "Give me back my **d****ango!**" She almost had a heart attack as she suddenly found herself putting her previous speed to shame as she ran for her life.

Back at the training field, Genma was standing idly as he watched her two teammates pant for breath. "hmm, doesn't seem like you guys are going to make it." He stretched as he let them recover. _I'll give her five more minutes to show up before I finish this. With her speed and time it takes to order the food, it should take her around fifteen minutes._ His plan took a turn when Kotori skidded to a stop in front of him with a box of dango in her hands. She quickly gave it to him with a wild look in her eyes as she tried to catch her breath. "Did we pass!" Genma was stunned for a moment before he nodded. "Looks like you did." She gave a little victory jump before sprinting out of the area. "Wait! I haven't told you when to meet up tom he paused when he felt a very strong KI behind him. He slowly turned around to see an enraged Anko. "Oh Shit!"

The next day, her team, Anko, and Kakashi were all in the Hokage's office. He looked at them with a questioning look on his face. "So all this was over a dango?" They all nodded in embarrassment except for Kakashi. He was surprised though that Kotori had somehow put her sensei in the hospital on the first day. The Hokage sighed before he shifted through some papers. "Well thanks to your actions, we are down one jonin-sensei as Genma recovers in the hospital. So as of now Anko, you are the new jonin-sensei for team four." A look of terror was on Kotori's face as she stared at the Hokage. "What! Why do I have to be the sensei of these kids." The Hokage fixed her with a stern stare. "Maybe its because you put their original sensei in the hospital." Anko grumbled as she accepted the position. "Still doesn't mean it has to be me."

Once outside the office, Kotori bowed to Anko. "I'm so sorry I stole your dango. Please don't kill me, I'll even repay you by buying you some dango later." Anko didn't know whether to be insulted or gleeful that her students seemed to be afraid of her. All well, they couldn't be that bad if they were offering free dango. She threw her arm around Kotori's shoulder and grinned at her. "Don't worry about it. As long as you treat me to free dango every once in a while, then everyone should get along fine."

[…]

A year later and it was Chiharu and Naruto turn to graduate. Although, it didn't help when Naruto still couldn't do bunshin and failed the exam. Which caused the whole incident with Mizuki and his sudden knowledge of why everyone hated him. If it wasn't for Iruka, he may have done something stupid as leave the village or something. He felt even guiltier the next morning about having thoughts about leaving as he ran to school. He had other people who was precious to him as well. Chiharu, Iruka, Hinata, Shino, Tori, and Sakura-chan were all in some form precious to him. He couldn't believe he actually thought about leaving them behind. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed he was going to be late if he didn't hurry.

Half an hour later, he was being scolded for being late again by Iruka. He wasn't his fault, it just seemed like everything that day was trying to make him late. He sat down at is customary seat behind Chiharu, Hinata, and Shino. Before they could ask how he passed, Iruka told the class to be quiet as he began to read off the names of the teams. Sakura groaned as she was put on some other team beside Sasuke's. Naruto actually looked like he was crying at the thought of Sakura-san not being as his team. "Team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha," a loud yell of "nooo" was heard from Naruto as he heard his teammates name. Iruka ignored him as he continued "and the final member will be Chiharu Maito" Naruto's quickly went from despair to happiness as he heard that at least one of his friends would be with him. "Team 8 will be Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame." Hinata smiled at Shino as he nodded back at her.

Each team was told who their sensei would be and to be ready to be picked up by them soon. Two hours later and Team 7 was still sitting there waiting for Kakashi. Naruto groaned as he banged his head against the desk. "I know Tori always said he was late for everything, but I didn't think it was this bad." Sasuke said nothing as he wondered who this Tori was. Chiharu sighed as she too was getting bored waiting. "Hopefully he will be her soon."

"Don't count on that." said a voice followed by a puff of smoke to reveal Kotori sitting on Iruka's desk. "I say you got another hour of waiting before he gets here." Naruto and Chiharu yelled out in surprise at her sudden arrival. "Tori!" Chiharu flew down the stairs while Naruto was right behind her. "Where have you been Tori. It's been over a month since we last saw you." She laughed as they hugged her and fired off question after questions. "Okay, guys calm down. I missed you guys to but you got to let me breath first." They let her go with a sheepish look before it was replaced with interest. "So what have you been doing."

She settled herself on the desk before answering. "Ah, I've been out of the village due to my new rank of Chunin. My missions deal with me having to leave the village more often than I used to. But that's not why I'm here." She lifted up a bag that contained dango and some drinks. "I'm here to celebrate you guys passing the exam." Naruto looked at the dango before he pouted. "You should brought ramen." Chiharu gently smacked him in the arm. "Naruto! Don't be so rude when Tori is kind enough to come celebrate our passing the exam." Kotori laughed. "It's okay, It's what I expected Naruto to say. He never did take a liking to dango like I did." She looked over at Sasuke. "What about you? You want some dango?" He looked at her with a blank stare before he turned with a quiet "hn". She looked at the others with a confused look on her face. "What went up his but and died?" Naruto laughed as Chiharu tried to reprimand her for being rude. "It's okay Tori." laughed Naruto. "He always like that."

They spent the rest of the time waiting by catching up. Kakashi finally arrived three hours after he was suppose to be there. He entered the room to see a relaxed group sitting on the floor while Sasuke stared out the window. He mentally sighed as he caught the smirk on Kotori's face as she knew she messed up his original plan to annoy them. "meh, while I know its nice to catch up and all but I need my team to meet me on the roof in five minutes." With that he disappeared in smoke.

Naruto and Chiharu sighed as they stood up. "Sorry, Tori, but it seems we can't talk anymore." She arched a brow at them. "Why not? You got a whole five minutes before you got to leave." They looked at her in confusion. "It would takes us around five minutes to get up there without running." They could practically feel the sneaky smile radiating from behind her mask. "Don't worry, I'll just teleport us up there when the time comes." Naruto cheered as Chiharu looked worried about getting in trouble. Sasuke simply stood up and walked out as he ignored them. "Okay… mister sunshine there is going to be loads of fun for you guys." Naruto groaned "Don't remind me." Chiharu giggled at his reaction.

Five minutes later they appeared on the roof by a brooding Sasuke and a slightly annoyed Kakashi. Kotori gave him an innocent look before she disappeared to tell Anko all about her interesting mission she had. He shook his head. _I never should have taught her shunshin._ He leaned back against the railing as Naruto and Chiharu found a place to sit. "Okay, lets begin with some introductions." Chiharu gave him a questioning look. "Questions? What do you want to know?" He gave a slight shrug. "How about... your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, and hobbies. You know, stuff like that." Naruto frowned. "Why don't you tell us about yourself first." Chiharu nodded. _Yeah... He looks suspicious, even if Tori says he is okay.__  
_

_"_Ohh, Me? My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future...? hmm... Well, I have lots of hobbies." Naruto had an annoyed look on his face. "All we learned was his name and we already know that thanks to Tori." Chiharu nodded in agreement as Sasuke ignored him. "Okay, now its you turn." said Kakshi has he pointed to Naruto. "Lets start with you on the right." Naruto straitened up in excitement and messed with his forehead proctor as he answered. "Me! Me! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like cup Ramen! What I like even more is the restaurant Ramen that Iruka-sensei, Chiharu, Tori, and all my precious eat with me. What I dislike is the three minutes for the cup Ramen to cook." Kakashi sweat dropped as he listened to the blond. _Does he think of anything besides Ramen._ "My dream... is to surpass all previous Hokages, and have the villagers acknowledge my existence!" Kakashi study the blond before him. _He has grown in an interesting way._ He thoughts were ruined by what was said next. "Hobbies... pranks i guess." He gave the boy a deadpanned look. _I see..._ "Next..."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are tons of things I dislike but I don't really like anything. And... I don't want to call it a "dream" its more of an ambition." Sasuke aura turned dark as he glared at something only he could see. "The resurrection of the Uchiha clan and... to kill a certain someone." Everyone had a different reaction to his statement. Naruto stared at him cautiously. _He doesn't mean me... right?_ Chiharu slid away from him to create some distance. _Scary..._ Kakashi simply stared at him. _I see... _ He turned to Chiharu. "And finally the girl."

Chiharu smiled. "My name is Chiharu Maito. I like my friends, family, and training with Gai." Kakashi sweat dropped at the last part. _Who__ would enjoy training with that man._ "My dislikes are people who hurt my friends, and people who think they better than everyone." She glanced at Sasuke before continuing. My dream is to someday start a clan here in Konoha." He arched a eyebrow at that. _So i got a ramen addicted blond, a brooding, revenge seeking Uchiha, and a training freak who wants to create a clan. _ He sighed. "Well that enough of that. We will start our duties tomorrow." Naruto gave an excited salute. "Yay! What kind of duties." Kakashi crossed his arms and leaned forward. "First were going to do something with just the four of us. It's called... Survival training."

* * *

**AN: **Yep, I did it. I actually replaced Sakura with Chiharu. So, apologies to all Sakura fans, but I have decided that she will fail the genin exam this time. Don't worry though, I plan for her to still be a big part in the story later.

Next chapter: **Team 7 Passes, Sakura Fails****  
**

Also I decided to have a kind of stat sheet to show the growth of the **Main **characters as my story continues. Of course none of them will be super powered at this moment in time. This is not going to be one of those stories where a 12 year old can beat a person who is on the level of a Kage.

Ranks go by

G- to G+ for genin lvl  
C- to C+ for Chunin lvl  
J- to J+ for jonin lvl  
A- to A+ for Anbu lvl  
K- to K+ for Kage lvl

Skills listed:

**Name  
Official rank -**rank listed in books  
**Special Skills **Blood lines, summons, and chakra modes (like sage mode)  
**Ninjutsu: **Based on number, level, and proficiency of jutsus  
**Taijutsu: **Based on fighting ability  
**Genjustu:**Based on level and proficiency  
**Intelligence: **Knowledge of countries, tactics, and adaptability  
**Strength: **Physical strength  
**Stamina: **Number of jutsu they can use  
**Speed: **Based on speed  
**Hand seals: **Based on speed and knowledge of hand seals  
**Overall Rank: **Overall ranking that is separate from official

**Naruto Uzumaki -Age 12  
Official rank- Genin  
Special Skills- Fast healing, large chakra reserve, and Kyuubi**

**Ninjutsu: **G+  
**Taijutsu: **G-  
**Genjustu:** G-  
**Intelligence: **G  
**Strength: **G+  
**Stamina: **K-  
**Speed: **G  
**Hand seals: **G-  
**Overall Rank:** G

**Chiharu Maito -Age 12  
Official rank- Genin  
Special Skills- Ice bloodline  
**

**Ninjutsu: **G+  
**Taijutsu: **C-  
**Genjustu:** G-  
**Intelligence: **G  
**Strength: **G  
**Stamina: **G+  
**Speed: **C-  
**Hand seals: **G  
**Overall Rank:** G+

**Sasuke Uchiha -Age 12  
Official rank- Genin  
Special Skills- Dormant Sharigan**

**Ninjutsu: **C-  
**Taijutsu: **G+  
**Genjustu:** G  
**Intelligence: **G+  
**Strength: **G+  
**Stamina: **G+  
**Speed: **G+  
**Hand seals: **G+  
**Overall Rank:** G+

**Kakashi Hatake -Age 26  
Official rank- Jonin  
Special Skills- ****Sharigan, Dog summons**

**Ninjutsu: **K  
**Taijutsu: **A  
**Genjustu:** A  
**Intelligence: **A+  
**Strength: **A-  
**Stamina:** J+  
**Speed: **A+  
**Hand seals: **K  
**Overall Rank:** A+

**Kotori Hatake -Age 13  
Official rank- Chunin  
Special Skills- Sharigan**

**Ninjutsu: **C+  
**Taijutsu: **C-  
**Genjustu:** J-  
**Intelligence: **C+  
**Strength: **C-  
**Stamina: **C  
**Speed: **C+  
**Hand seals: **C+  
**Overall Rank:** C+


	7. Team 7 Passes

**AN:** Hope you guys like the changes I made to the team. Hopefully, you guys will like the changes I make as my story progresses. They will be small at first and will gradually get bigger.

* * *

**Team 7 Passes, Sakura Fails**

Three loud growls filled the air at training ground number three. Naruto gave a cry of annoyance as he collapsed on the ground from a combination of boredom, hunger, and tiredness. "He's late! He should have been here over an hour ago! That bastard better not have forgotten!" Chiharu knew she should at least try and defend her sensei, but couldn't find the energy to actually care as her stomach growled in hunger once again. She sighed before she simply sat beside Naruto and tried to get her mind off how hungry she was. Sasuke stayed standing as he too felt the grumbles from his stomach. He simply shrugged it off and remained standing off to one side silent as always.

Meanwhile, in a cozy apartment far from the sad little hungry genin. Two masked ninja were enjoying an early morning breakfast. Kakashi sat at a small round table as he slowly ate his breakfast while reading Come Come Paradise. Across from him, sat Kotori as she finished up her own meal. "So, seeing as your in a good mood. I take it you pulled off one of your famous wake up early and don't eat plans?" Kakashi looked at her with an eye smile. "I have no idea what your talking about." She chuckled as she got up to clean her now empty plate. "Don't be to mean to them now Kakashi." He grunted before he closed his book and stood up. "Well, seems like I tortured them enough. Guess I better start making my way there." She didn't believe him for a second. "By heading there, I'm guessing you really mean making them wait another hour before you finally show up with a bad excuse?" He merely chuckled as he waved at her as he puffed out of sight. "… You could use the door you know."

An hour later, a very cheerful Kakashi walked towards his students. "Good morning!" Naruto jumped up and pointed at him while he screeched his head off. "Your late!" Chiharu stood up as well, not yelling but silently glaring at her sensei with a look of disapproval. A quiet hn was all Sasuke had to express his hidden annoyance as he finally joined the others. Kakashi "tried" to look embarrassed but failed miserably as he spoke his next sentence. "Sorry I'm late, but I had to help an old lady cross the street." This time both Naruto and Chiharu yelled at him. "Liar!"

He chuckled before he set down a clock. "This clock is set for noon." A confused look was passed between the three children as they all stared at the clock. He held up two bells as he continued. "Your mission is to try and take these two bells from me before noon. Those who are unable to get the bell, get no lunch. I'll also tie you to a stump as me and your teammates eat in front of you." Three loud growls of hunger was his only reply. "Seeing how there is only two bells, one of you will definitely be tied to the stump by the end of the afternoon." He face turned dark as he laid at the last rule. "And… the person who fails to get the bell will be sent back to the academy." A shocked silence filled the air as each student eyeballed the bells carefully. "Use what anything you want from jutsu to weapons. You won't succeed if you don't come at me with the intent to kill." Naruto laughed "I'll definitely be the one to grab a bell. Believe it!" Kakashi gave him a deadpanned look. "It's often the those with no real talent that are the loud ones. Ignore the dead last and start when I say."

Naruto's face changed from laughing to anger as the words dead last echoed in his head. "I'll kill you!" he yelled as he charged him with a kunai. "Naruto stop!" yelled Chiharu as she tried to stop him. Before she could take a step, Kakashi appeared behind him and held Naruto's kunai wielding arm behind him. Chiharu's eyes widen in surprise. _I didn't even see him move._ On the other side of her, Sasuke was smirking. _So this is a jounin._ Kakashi kept Naruto pinned as he began to speak. "Seems like your finally getting serious. So you finally acknow-" He jumped away as he was interrupted as Chiharu aimed a round house kick at his face. _She's faster than a normal genin._ He thought in surprise. _Guess I should have expected that since she trains with Gai._ He sighed as he held up his arms in a calming manner. "Now, now, I haven't told you guys to start yet." He smirked as he saw each one tense in preparation. _hmm… I think I'm beginning to like these guys._ "Okay, lets get going. Ready… Start!

A second later and he was standing alone in the field. _Hmm… Good, they all hid well._ "Fight me!" He nearly face planted as he notice Naruto actually hadn't hidden like he thought. "I said fight me!" He stared at him "… I think you a little bit off." Off in the trees, Sasuke stared down at the scene before him. _Idiot… _To his left hidden in some bushes near the river laid Chiharu as she too watched the scene. _Naruto…You suppose to hide first._ He charged him while screaming an insult at him. Kakashi sighed as he reached into his kunai pouch. Naruto's eye widen as he jumped back and stared at him with caution. "Fine, I'll teach you. Ninja lesson number one, Taijutsu. It's the ninja way of hand to hand combat." Naruto greeted his teeth. _He says that, but he is going to use a weapon?_ He was proven wrong when Kakashi pulled out the latest book of the Icha Icha series, Come Come Paradise.

Naruto stared at him in confusion. "Well what's wrong? Come at me." Naruto gave him a skeptical look. "But… hey, why do you have a book?" He began to read as he answered him. "Because I want to see what happens next. Don't worry… It won't make any difference against you guys." A silent pause later, and Naruto was running at him in rage. "I'll beat you to a pulp!" Never taking his eyes off his book, he blocked his punch and ducked under his follow up kick. He then smoothly dodged a rather clumsy punch and stopped behind him with his hands in a tiger seal. "A ninja doesn't get caught from behind… idiot."

Across the training ground, a figure flew out of the bushes as Chiharu ran towards them. _That seal… is he going to use a fire jutsu on Naruto!_ Sasuke stayed put as he watch her try and make it in time. _So that bastard isn't playing around._ "Naruto" screamed Chiharu as she saw she was to far away to help. "Get out of there! You going to get killed." All Naruto did was look at her with a confuse expression. "Your to late." Said Kakashi as Naruto finally realized he was behind him. "Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Techinque: **A Thousand Years of Pain!**" Naruto was sent flying into the air as he screamed in pain from the painful poke. Chiharu stumbled in mid step and fell to the ground in disbelief. _That wasn't even ninjutsu. It was just a powerful ass poke. _Sasuke was sharing her same thoughts. _Two total Morons…_ "Now" said Kakashi as he turned towards the exposed Chiharu. "Lesson number two, Genjutsu."

Underneath the water, Naruto gritted his teeth in anger as he rubbed his now sore ass. That bastard was going to pay for looking down on him like all the others. **Shadow Clone Technique**, dozens of clones appeared around him. He went up first and came out gasping pretending to be tired. He looked around in surprise when he saw that the only person around was Chiharu. He stumbled towards her soaking wet. "Hey, where did that bastard go!" His only answer was a surprising kick to the fast as he skidded along the ground and partly into the river. His clones popped out of the river and surrounded him as they helped him back up.

He stood shakily as he stared at her in surprise. "What the heck? Chiharu why did you do that?" He gulped when he saw her glaring at him. "You'll pay for what you did to Naruto, Kakashi-sensei." All the Narutos stared at her in confusion. "Kakashi? I'm not Kakashi" She didn't listen as she sprinted towards him. His clones jumped in between her and him to defend him. Why there were more Narutos than her, she was obviously faster and better than taijutsu. The real Naruto watch in fear as more and more of his clones were falling to her brutal attacks. "Hey boss." He looked over in surprise to see a clone standing beside him with an excited look on his face. "What?" The clone pointed at Chiharu with a self satisfied look. "I know what's wrong with her. She is under a genjutsu." He looked in surprise at himself before he got excited. "Okay, then how do we stop her?" The clone got a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, by releasing her from the genjutsu… I think." He grinned at his clone, he was smarter than he thought. "So… how do we do that?" The clone looked at him with a confused face. "I… don't know." They both turned in dread as Chiharu broke through the last of his clones. "uh-oh"

Off in the distance, Kakashi was facing off against Sasuke. He paused as he heard Naruto screams of pain. _Maybe I overdid it a little… _Sasuke used his brief lapse in concentration to start forming seals for his jutsu. Kakashi eyes snapped back to Sasuke as he saw the seals he formed. _There is no way a genin would be able to use a jutsu like that._ He was proven wrong. Fire Release: **Great Fireball Technique, **Sasuke shot out a large fireball that covered Kakashi from view. When the flames dispersed, he was nowhere to be seen. Sasuke look around. _Where did he go? The side… no above? _"Below you!" said Kakashi voice as it filtered from the ground. Hands broke through the earth and grabbed his legs. Earth Release: **Headhunter Technique.** Sasuke screamed as his body was pulled into the earth from the neck down.

Sasuke stared at Kakashi in annoyance. "Lesson number three, Ninjutsu. Well, you ahead of the others in this department." He chuckled as he stood up and began to make his way back to the others. "Although, they say that nails that stick out are usually hammered down." He chuckled as he disappeared from view. Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger. Was the difference between them really that large.

Back with Naruto, he felt relief as Chiharu finished placing the last of the bandages on his face. She had finally snapped out of it when he got a lucky punch that connected with her face. He hadn't meant to hit her so hard that it would leave a bruise though. He looked at the bandage on her face before lower his face. "Sorry about hitting you so hard." Chiharu almost laughed at his apology. Naruto was worse off as bandages covered most of his face, but he was still more worried about her than himself. "I'm sorry too, for letting him trick me into fighting you."

He instantly brightened as he saw she wasn't angry with him. "So, how are we going to beat that bastard and get the bells." She looked at Naruto as she thought about the clones she had fought. She had never met clones that were solid before. If Naruto could create more, then she could get in a shot at him with one of her few ice jutsus. "Well, Naruto can you create more clones like before?" He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Of course I can, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. There is nothing I can't do." She smiled at his always overflowing confidence. "Okay Naruto, this is what we are going to do."

A few minutes later, Kakashi entered a now empty clearing. He looked around as he tried to find where they had hidden. _I felt them around this area before they went into hiding again._ His eye caught the movement of something orange as multiple Naruto's burst out of the river. "Don't underestimate me!" Kakashi looked at the clones with a calculating eye. _Hmmm. Shadow clones, the same move he used to defeat Mizuki. _"Meh, I say with you abilities, you would be able to hold them for around a minute." He dodged a barrage of punches and kicks. "But that still isn't enough to defeat me." He destroyed a clone here and there as he dodged through them._ "_Well, you are doing better then before." _I can't read my book. Definitely an improvement from before._

Suddenly, he felt a someone grab him from behind. He looked in shock as he saw a clone of Naruto holding onto him. _When did that clone get there? _"Got you now sensei." screamed the majority of the clones as they all latched on to separate body parts. The real Naruto was running towards him with his fist reared back. "I'm going to pay you back for that move you did to me!" _He did better than I thought, but he is still too open. _He focused his gaze on a Naruto who wasn't holding him. _Guess I'll just use __**Body Replacement Technique**__ and switch with one of his clones. He'll probably fight amongst himself in confusion._

His plan was interrupted when he felt his upper body start to go numb and stiff. _What is going on?_ He looked in shock as the Naruto that was on his back transformed into a smiling Chiharu. _That was Chiharu all along. I see… she used the __**Transformation Technique**__ to hide among the clones._ (1)Ice Release: **Frozen Water Technique. **His upper began to be encased in ice as used the water dripping from her clothes to freeze him. He smiled at there combined attack. _She also used the entrance from the water for her jutsu she would use to trap me. They had done a almost flawless plan that would have gotten him if they had more experience._

He gave an eye smile as he used his superior strength to break the growing ice on his body. He broke Chiharu's grip on him and threw her over his shoulder. The real Naruto hastily redirected his route as he jumped to catch the flying girl. The rest of the clones jumped towards him in attempt to not let him escape. They all collided together as he replaced himself with a clone and hid in the trees. _Almost…_

Before the clones could detangle themselves, the clock went off to announce the end of the time limit. He sighed as he jumped down from the tree. They had done a little better than he thought they would, but still hadn't managed to grab the bells. He reached down to pat them and stiffened when he found them missing. He heard the sound of Naruto's clones popping out of existence as he undid his jutsu. He looked over to see a grinning Naruto and Chiharu with bells dangling from their hands. He couldn't stop himself from chuckling, at least two of his students were on the right path to understanding the test.

[…]

Sasuke angrily glared at Kakashi as he leaned against the wooden post he was tied to. Naruto laughed as he held his lunch in his hands. "Ha, Sasuke-teme isn't so great after all." Sasuke scoffed as he glared at him. "Whatever dobe, at least I didn't need the help of a girl to actually do anything." Naruto glared at him. "What did you say bastard!" Chiharu tried to calm him down. "It's okay Naruto. We got the bells and passed the exam. That's all that matters." Kakashi cleared his throat. "Actually, I decided to not pass you guys." "What!" they both screamed in surprise. Naruto stood up with an angry scowl on his face. "We got the stupid bells like you told us to. Why in the hell did we not pass your test."

Kakashi glared at them. "Because you guys are not fully understanding the purpose of this test." They looked at each other in confusion. "What kind of purpose was there behind this Kakashi-sesnsei." asked Chiharu politely. "It's teamwork." They all looked at him in shock. "But there are only two bells. Why in the hell would we work with Sasuke-teme if only two of us would pass. He nodded his head. "Off course the test is suppose to make you not want to work together. This was to see if you would put your own selfish interest aside for the team… but you guys." He pointed at Naruto. "You originally went off on your own and attacked me without any backup or plan." He turned to Chiharu. "You did come to help Naruto, but got trapped in my illusion and hurt him instead. Although, you guys did admirably for not holding a grudge against each other and worked together at the end. However, you not once thought about helping Sasuke did you." He then turned towards Sasuke. "You were the worst of all. You stayed hidden and not once tried to help Naruto or Chiharu. Then tried to take me on all by yourself."

He turned and walked over to a memorial stone. "A mess up could cause your death or even the death of one of your teammates." He stopped before the memorial stone and placed a hand on it. "There are numerous names written on this stone. Each ninja here is recognized as a hero of the village." Naruto perked up at the mention of the word hero. "Ha, I decided that I will get my name carved on there as well! A hero is what I'll become!" Kakashi slightly turned to him with a serious face. "But… they are not just ordinary heroes." Naruto got excited and leaned forward. "What kind of heroes are they!"

There was a silent pause as he turned towards them. "They are ninjas who all died while on duty." Naruto's face went from shock and then slowly to sadness. "My best friends name is carved on here." Chiharu looked sadly at the stone and then to Kakashi. _His best friend is dead?_ "You guys… I'll give you one more chance. After lunch you'll try again, but I will make it even harder than before. Naruto and Chiharu can eat their lunches since they did get the bells in time. However," He sent a small measure of KI at them. "Sasuke will not be allowed to eat anything since he was unable to get a bell. Anyone who feeds him will instantly fail. I am the rules here. Got it?" With a final glare, he disappeared from his spot before them.

Sasuke merely grunted at them, but stayed silent at not being allowed to eat. Naruto had no problem opening his lunch and began to devour it in front of Sasuke. Chiharu was more hesitant as she watched Sasuke try and not notice the food that was around him. She sighed when a tiny growl escaped his stomach. She stood up and grab a piece of food with her chopstick. She held it in front of a surprised face. "Sasuke, eat some of my food." Naruto stared at her stunned before he jumped up. "You can't do that! Kakashi said he would fail us if we fed him." Sasuke merely ignored the food she was holding up to him. "I don't need any food. I can do just fine without it." His statement was ruined a slightly louder growl followed it. Chiharu chuckled "It's okay, I don't sense sensei anywhere around here. I'm sure he would have failed me the moment I tried to feed you." He hned at her before he slowly opened his mouth. Chiharu had to fight off a blush as she placed some rice into his mouth.

The moment he swallowed the food. Kakashi appeared in a loud band of smoke. "You guys!" Naruto screeched, Sasuke stared at him defiantly, and Chiharu tried to hide her lunchbox behind her back. "Pass" A very long silence followed his statement. Moments later, two very loud "eh?" followed his statement.

[…]

Kotori laughed as she sat beside Naruto at his favorite food place, Ichiraku Ramen. "It's not funny Tori. That bastard fought dirty! My poor but still hasn't recovered from that attack." She patted him on the head while trying and failing to look sympathetic. The damn grin just wouldn't leave her face "Hey, it's okay Naruto. At least you passed and are now considered a ninja." He chewed on some Ramen moodily. "Still doesn't mean I like my new sensei." He brightened up considerable at a new thought. "Although, Sasuke-teme was the only one who got tied to a post." He looked sneakily at Kotori. "I even tried to get everyone to "forget" about untying him from the post as we left." She laughed even more as she imagined the look on the dudes face as he watched them walk away. "I so wish I was there to see that!" Naruto laughed too before he went back to stuffing his face with ramen.

Kotori sat back and watched the orange blond beside her. _I'm glad he managed to pass the test. Now he can finally get started on that dream of his._ "Hey Tori?" She pushed her thoughts aside as she focused back onto Naruto. "What?" He looked slightly nervous at her before picking at his food. "Do you think Sakura passed as well?" She nearly groaned at the mention of the pink haired girl. She never understood his fascination with that girl. Why couldn't he like Hinata, Chiharu, or even Ino instead of that loud girl who always hit him. "I don't really know. You would have to ask her or her teammates instead." He looked sadly at his ramen. "Oh, okay…"

She almost sighed as she watched the gloom fall over him. "Fine! I'll check on her later and see if she passed or not." He instantly brightened. "Thanks Tori! I knew I could count on you." She flicked his forehead before she stood up. He looked at her confusion. "Hey where you going. You didn't even eat any ramen." She almost rolled her eyes at his shocked look. He still didn't understand that everyone didn't love ramen. "I got some things to do before the end of the day. So I'll be seeing you later. Plus you need to go and prepare for you first official mission tomorrow." She said with a slightly evil grin. "I'm sure that the missions from now on will be rememberial." He looked excited as he placed some money on the table. "That's right. I got my first mission tomorrow as he real ninja." He ran off while waving. "See you later, Tori."

She waved back before she jumped up to a rooftop. _Okay, first things first is to find that pink furball._ She lazily jumped across rooftops in search of her. _The most likely place she will be is anywhere Sasuke is._ Luckily she knew where that kid lived since it was such a huge compound that was rather famous for a sad reason. _Guess I'll start my search there._

Less than a minute after arriving at his house, she found her. She almost sweat dropped at how easy it was to know where she would be. It also didn't help when she noticed multiple other girls hiding near his place to try and get a peek at him. _Damn, what is wrong with this girls._ She landed lightly above Sakura so she wouldn't notice her. She almost immediately noticed the gloom that was surrounding her. _Okay… that's not good. I can safely assume she did not pass the test._ She could hear her mumbling to herself about being separated from her "Sasuke-kun" and how it was unfair that the idiot was on his team.

All her sympathy went out the window when she heard her call Naruto an idiot. _Well that so called "idiot" is the only one who cares enough to ask if you actually passed. I didn't hear your "Sasuke-kun" giving a damn._ The longer she listened to the girl mumble, the angrier she got. She finally snapped when she heard her say that there was no point in trying to pass anymore if Sasuke wasn't there. She jumped down beside her and grabbed her arm. A gasp of shock and a puff of smoke later, showed an empty place where a pink haired girl had previous filled.

Across the village, a yell was cut off as Sakura splashed into a pond Kotori had thrown her into. She came back up and spluttered as she swam to the shore. She looked up angrily to see who it was that through her into the pond. When she noticed the laughing masked girl, she turned red in anger and embarrassment. "Why in the hell did you do that for." Kotori simply shrugged. "Maybe it was because I couldn't stand seeing you look any more pathetic." Sakura screamed in fury as she ran at her. Kotori caught her punch aimed at her head, and flipped her over her shoulder. Sakura landed with a painful "oomph" as the air was knocked out of her. She angrily stood back up and attacked her again.

Kotori sighed as she continuously knocked Sakura on her ass. _Just how long is she going to try and beat me?_ Finally, with a painful smack to the bottom and a faceplant onto the ground, she stayed down. "Oh, finally gave up?" A broken sob surprised her as Sakura sat up with tears running down her face. _Oh shit… I think I went a little to far._ Sakura tried to wipe the tears from her face as she turned towards her. "Why a-are y-you d-doing this t-to m-me. I h-hardly e-even k-know you." _She sounds like Hinata._ She hastily crushed the distracting thought as she focused on the crying girl. "Well, it may have to do with the what you just said at that emo kids house." Sakura looked at her in confusion. "What?"

She sighed as she sat down in front of Sakura. "You really shouldn't be a ninja just to get into a boys pants you know." Sakura blushed. "W-what!" She chuckled at the girls embarrassed face. "You do know that boy doesn't care about you at all, right?" Sakura looked at her in anger. "Sasuke-kun does care, he just doesn't show it… that's all" She looked at her in disbelief. "No he doesn't. I met up with the team after they passed their exams. He didn't even ask about how the others did in his class. Naruto on the other hand, was really interested in rather you passed or not." A look of annoyance past across Sakura's face. "Does that idiot still like me." She gulped when Kotori let off some KI at her. "That "idiots" name is Naruto! I think you should be rather glad that "someone" actually cares rather you pass or not."

Sakura glared at her. "What gives you the right to tell me how I should be a ninja. Or how I should be grateful for some idio-" she corrected herself when Kotori's KI intensified. "Naruto cares about me passing. I'm not his friend and I'm definitely not going to be his girlfriend either! I bet he only passed because Sasuke-kun carried the dead last." A stinging slap followed her outburst. She looked at Kotori in shock. "Did you just slap me."

Kotori brought all the KI she could muster onto the girl. "I dare you to say that about Naruto, one more time." Sakura was petrified before her as her mouth opened up silently to only close. "I'll have you know that the "dead last" ,as you put it, actually did better than your little Sasuke-kun. He at least, didn't get tied to a wooden post." She leaned towards Sakura until her nose was touching sakura's as she glared at her. "And I would **never** allow someone like you to be Naruto's girlfriend. You have no honor as a female ninja and don't even deserve to be near that kid who dreams of being Hokage one day. All you do is pine over some bastard who would rather stab himself in the leg before he went out with you." Sakura opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by Kotori. "Don't say a word! I don't care how much you love that bastard. I'm sure Naruto holds more love for you in his little pinky finger than Sasuke would ever feel for you in his entire life!"

She stood up and began to walk away from the cowering girl. "I really, I mean really, want to beat you until your black in blue for what you stand for and how you act." She stopped as she turned towards her with a glare. "But that would only make Naruto sad and most likely angry with me as well. So the only thing I can do is say this. Get your head out of your ass and find a "real" reason to be a ninja instead of something stupid as a crush." She sighed as she saw Sakura was crying gain. "You need to get your priorities straight before you can even think about being a ninja. Otherwise… you'll die." She puffed away in smoke as she left Sakura crying on the ground.

[…]

A week passed since the formation of team 7 and the argument between Kotori and Sakura. She had told Naruto the sad news that Sakura had failed. He had been sad for the first couple of days but had gradually gotten happier as he fulfilled his missions during the week. Kotori soon left on a c-rank delivery mission to the Land of Tea. She left as a silent Kakashi, and complaining Naruto watched her go. She had laughed when he said she got all the fun missions. She told him that they would do missions together once he became Chunin to cheer him up. He had brightened up at that and told her that it was a promise.

Finally three weeks later, Naruto patients was used up as his team once more caught a lost pet for some random owner. He fumed inside the mission area as the cat he caught was crushed to death by his overjoyed owner. _Take that you stupid cat_. He felt no remorse for it as he still felt the stinging from all the scratches on his face. Once more the Hokage tried to give his team a d-rank mission. He stopped that in its track. "No!" Everyone looked at him in shock. "No more crappy missions Sarutobi-jiji. I want a more a more incredible mission!" His team stayed silent but you could tell from their faces that they agreed with him.

Iruka chastised him as Kakashi tapped him on the head and told him to be quiet. Sarutobi sighed as he began to explain the how missions were assigned, the rank of ninja, and how they were paid for their services. Sadly, it seemed team 7 actually found what type of ramen Naruto would eat for dinner more interesting than his lecture. Kakashi apologized sheepishly as he found himself also more interested in his own dinner then the lecture as well.

"Jiji, you always give me lectures like that. When we'll you see I'm not the same trouble making brat I was before!" Sarutobi couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Ok." Everyone, including Naruto, looked at him in shock. "I'll give you a c-rank mission. It's to protect a certain individual."

"Who is it? Is it a lord or a princess?" Naruto asked in excitement. Sarutobi chuckled at the boy's eagerness. "Calm down, I'm about to introduce him to you. Hey will you come in now?" A drunken man stumbled into the room and leaned against the doorway. He took a swig of his drink before he spoke. "They're all a bunch of super brats. Epically, the shortest one with a super stupid looking face." Naruto laughed as he looked to see who he was talking about. A moment later, Kakashi held Naruto back as he threatened to kill the old man. "Meh, I don't think you suppose to kill your own client Naruto." The man straightened up as he introduced himself. "I'm the super bridge builder Tazuna. I expect you brats to provide me with some protection as I travel back to my country."

A day later, and team 7 ,plus one old drunk man, left the village gates loudly. They never noticed the hidden person that had been watching them all morning. The person remained watching the gates even after they had departed. They were not the ones she was waiting for. An hour later, Kotori and her group walked through the gates. She stretched and gave a content sigh as she breathed in the smell of her home. "Finally, we made it back. I don't know how much more expensive tea smell I could have took." She paused as she noticed the person waiting for her. "Guys… I'll catch up in a sec." Her teammates nodded before waving goodbye and headed towards the Hokage's office to report their completed mission. She turned around as the hidden person walked up to her. "Hello… Sakura."

* * *

**AN: **Next chapter: **Zabuza Appears: Team 7's Determination  
**

**(1) Water Freezing Technique: D-rank- Freezes water surrounding user  
**


	8. Zabuza Appears

**Zabuza Appears: Team 7's Determination**

It was midday as the sun hung high in the air as it shined down on the traveling group below it. Chiharu wiped some sweat of her forehead as she walked beside Kakashi. She hated hot days due to her bloodline that caused her to be uncomfortable in hot temperatures. Around her, everyone was talking about the villages that did or didn't have ninja and which countries had Kages. She smiled when Naruto was caught thinking that the old man couldn't be that great. Up ahead, she saw a small puddle had formed in the road. She stared at it as she felt a weird vibe coming from it. She had come to know what type of vibe water gave off thanks to her training in her bloodline. Still, it could be that the water in different areas felt different. She shook her head as she decided to ignore the feeling.

Moments later, two ninja's appeared around Kakashi as they captured him in a chain. "One down" came their combined voice as they shredded Kakashi into small bits. "Kakashi-sensei!" yelled Naruto as he stared in disbelief at the sight before him. He froze when the ninjas appeared behind him. "Two down" they said almost gleefully as they brought their chain forward to capture him. Their hands stopped as the chain connecting them was pinned to a tree by a kunai thrown by Sasuke. He landed on their outstretched arms and gripped both their arms as he kicked back with both legs. A grunt of pain came from them as his kick connected with their faces. They quickly broke off their chain and split up as one went for Naruto and the other for Tazuna.

Chiharu quickly intercepted the one who went after Tazuna. His eyes widen in shock as she appeared below him and used a sweeping kick to knock his legs out from beneath him. She continued her spin and brought her knee up to meet his face as he fell. A loud crunching sound was heard as his upper body snapped backwards into the air. The poor ninja face wasn't spared as Sasuke appeared above him and finished him with a drop kick that drove him into the ground. Sasuke landed beside Chiharu and looked at her out of the corner of his eye with slight respect. At least one of his teammates weren't useless.

The other ninja had worse luck as he was taken down instantly by Kakashi. He looked at the other ninja as he caught the one he had knocked out. He felt some pride in his two students for having taken down someone who was chunin level. He turned to the slightly wounded Naruto. "Sorry for not intervening sooner, I didn't expect you to freeze up like that. Anyways, nice job Sasuke and Chiharu too."

Naruto stared at his two teammates. They had both defeated an enemy ninja by themselves without even getting a wound on them. His fist tightened as he felt anger at himself. _Why was I the only one who froze up?_ "Hey" He looked up to see Sasuke smirking at him. "Are you alright, Scaredy Cat" Kakashi quickly put an end to any retort he had. "That's enough Sasuke. Naruto, we need to see to your wounds. Those claws were soaked in poison." He looked down at the cuts on his hand in silence. He jumped when a soft hand grabbed his injured one. He looked up to see Chiharu staring at him with sadness. "Don't listen to Sasuke. It's okay that you froze up. I know next time you won't let fear win." He nodded slightly as she pulled out some bandages and a kunai. "Now, lets look at that wound."

While Chiharu was seeing to Naruto, Kakashi was having Tazuna come clean about the mission. "We didn't know ninjas were after you. We were only suppose to protect you from bandits and thieves as you completed the bridge. This has become at least a B-rank mission." Kakashi stared at the silent Tazuna. "I'm sure you had your reasons, but we are operating outside of our duties with this mission." He looked around at the silent Sasuke and then to Chiharu as she slowly bled the poison out of Naruto's wounds. He sighed before he turned to his team. "The best course of actions would be to probably return to the village and get Naruto's wounds looked at. We can also look at getting a more suited team for this mission."

Naruto gritted his teeth as he heard the part about him getting treated. He wasn't going to hold back his team again. He snatched the kunai from Chiharu's hounds and plunged it into his hand. _I'm never going to run away again! I won't lose to Sasuke or Chiharu! I swear it on the pain in my left hand!_ He grinned at his shocked team. "Were continuing this mission." His grin slipped from his face when he was punched by an enraged girl. He stared in shock at Chiharu, she had never hit him before. "You idiot! What do you think you are doing!" She yelled in worry as she grabbed his hand and begin to tie bandages around it to stop the bleeding. "Do you want to bleed to death!" His face went blank for a few seconds before he turned blue. "That's bad! I can't die yet, I still got to become Hokage and get people to acknowledge me!" Sasuke sighed as Kakshi gave a deadpanned stare at his most surprising student as they both thought the same thing. _Idiot_

Tazuna stared the blond too before he sighed. "Kakashi… I have to talk with you." Kakashi arched his only visible brow at him. Why did he get the feeling, he wasn't going to like what the man said.

Meanwhile, in a hidden tree house in the land of wave. Zabuza held his blade as he pointed it at Gato. "Who do you think I am? There is a reason I am called the Devil of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi.

[…]

A boat silently floated down the mist covered river. On the boat, Kakashi sat quietly as he thought over what he had learned. His charges were all serious except for well… Naruto. He was getting distracted by the giant bridge they were passing. He sighed before he went back to the new information he had gained. They were going against Gatou, a man who owned a huge company that was known for being shady. It didn't help that he knew that his team wasn't ready for whatever was waiting for them across this river. The boat drifted into a short tunnel before coming out to a small dock surrounded by trees. They disembarked and watched in amusement as the boat man high tailed it out of there.

They started walking towards Tazuna home in a relaxed pace. Well, all except Naruto, as he walked in front of the group looking left and right for trouble. Suddenly he turned sharply and threw a shuriken into the woods. Everyone tensed as they waited for something to happen. Seconds ticked by before Naruto turned towards them. "Heh… just a rat." Chiharu groaned, that was one of the lamest excuses she had ever heard. She heard a snicker and looked to her right in shock. Sasuke looked as calm as ever but she could have sworn he had laughed at Naruto. She didn't have time to think about it as Naruto once again threw a shuriken into a different spot in the woods. Tazuna finally had enough of being scared by Naruto's false alarms. "Hey Midget, stop acting like an idiot." Naruto turned to them with a slight look of embarrassment on his face. "Someone is following us, I swear it!"

Kakashi looked into the bushes and found a white rabbit. He picked it up and tossed it to Naruto. "There is the enemy you noticed." He was acting nonchalant but his mind was going into overdrive as he thought about the rabbits fur. _Why is it white during spring? _While he was thinking, Naruto was apologizing to the bunny and to a mad Chiharu that was leaking KI. "Naruto!, I can't believe you almost killed a bunny!" She took from him and held it as if to protect it from him. "I didn't know you hated animals." Naruto looked at her in desperation. "I swear I didn't mean to. I thought it was an enemy ninja."

Their argument was cut short when Kakashi yelled for them to get down as a giant blade flew towards them. Instantly, Sasuke tackled Tazuna to the ground as Naruto and Chiharu ducked underneath the blade. The blade came to a stop as it cut into a tree. Zabuza landed on the hilt and looked down at them. "You appear to be Sharigan Kakashi… Sorry but the old man is mine." Naruto and Chiharu looked at him in confusion at the mention of the word sharigan. Sasuke stared at Kakashi instead as he tried to figure out how he had "his" bloodline. Kakashi raised his headband to reveal his sharigan. "Surround and protect Tazuna. Do not enter the fight. I'll take care of Zabuza."

Zabuza chuckled as he saw the famed sharigan right before his eyes. "So I get to see the sharigan already. I'm honored." Naruto looked at his eye in confusion and wonder. "Sharigan is all you guys are talking about. Just what so great about it?" Sasuke explained how it was a bloodline that was used through the eyes. How it was able to see through genjutsu and copy other peoples techniques by just seeing them once. Zabuza cut the discussion short as he was finally ready to finish his mission. "Enough talking, I have to kill that old man." Tazuna was instantly surrounded by team 7 as Kakashi stood in the front. "But it seems that I will have to beat you first Kakashi."

He kicked off the tree and landed on the water with his sword on his back. The water around him begin to ripple as he released chakra into it. Ninja Art:** Hidden Mist Technique**. He disappeared behind a heavy mist as it spread to envelope the surrounding area. Kakashi stayed alert as he talked to his team. "Guys be careful, Zabuza is know for his silent killing." The mist thickened before Zabuza's voiced echoed out of the mist. "8 choices. Liver, Lung, Spine, Clavicle vein, Neck, Brain, Kidney, or Heart. Which should I go after." Sasuke begin to shake as he felt incredible KI focus on him. His slowly raised his kunai towards his throat as his mind was crushed by the force. "Sasuke…" He looked wide eyed at Kakashi. "I'll protect you guys." He turned to them with a smile. "I don't let my comrades die."

Zabuza appeared in the middle of team 7. "We'll see about that." Quicker than they could see, Kakashi stabbed a kunai through the mans chest. Zabuza burst into water as another him appeared behind Kakashi and cleaved him in half. Kakashi burst into water and the real one appeared behind Zabuza with a kunai pressed to his throat. "It's over" Sasuke, Naruto, and Chiharu all stared at him in awe. "So cool" said Naruto with stars in his eyes. The moment was ruined when Zabuza laughed. "Over? You don't get it. You can't defeat me with your monkey like imitation." The real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi as his water clone exploded. "I'm not that easy to kill." Kakashi ducked as Zabuza sliced the air where his used the be. He was taken by surprise when Zabuza sword dug into the ground. He used it to spin into a two combo kick that sent Kakashi flying into the water.

Chiharu stared at the water Kakashi had just been sent into. It felt just like the puddle that had hidden the other two missing ninjas. Realization struck her as she watched Kakashi struggle with the abnormally heavy water. She took off in a sprint towards him "Kakashi-sensei! Get out of the water! It's a trap!" She was too late as Zabuza appeared behind him and trapped him in his **Water Prison Technique**. Kakashi knew he was trapped and turned towards the approaching girl. "Chiharu! You, Naruto, and Sasuke need to take Tazuna and run. You're no match for someone like him".

She ignored him and continued to run towards the now trapped Kakashi while forming hand seals. _If I can get into the water, I can freeze the area around Zabuza and free Kakasi-sensei._ She skidded to a stop when a water clone formed in front of her. She jumped back as she finished her hand seals. She inhaled as water around her was sucked into her mouth. (1)Ice Release:** Ice Pellets Technique!** She exhaled as dozens of small, sharp ice pellets shot out of her mouth and into the clone before her. The clone exploded as its chest was punched full of holes.

Zabuza stared at her in shock. _That jutsu… she has the same bloodline as Haku. Interesting…_ He laughed as he formed three more water clones between him and her. "That's an interesting bloodline you got there. However, it will take more than that to defeat me." Chiharu looked between the real Zabuza and his clones. _I can't defeat them all by myself._ Suddenly there were dozens of Narutos raining from the sky as Naruto joined the fight. "Hey bastard, you let Kakashi-sensei go!" The real Naruto landed besides Chiharu as his clones engaged the water clones. "Hey, Chiharu, you all right?" He asked worriedly. She nodded. "I'm fine Naruto. It's Sensei we have to worry about." Sasuke landed on the other side of her as he watched Naruto's clones slowly be defeated. "Without a plan, we won't be able to even get near them."

Naruto grinned at them. "I got a perfect idea. Remember the plan we used against Kakashi during the test Chiharu." She thought for a second before she nodded as Sasuke looked at them in confusion. "Well I thought of one like that, but better!" She felt her eye twitch but ignored Naruto's jab at her plan making skills. "So what is it?" He grinned as he leaned towards them and told them plan. Seconds later, and both of his teammates were looking at Naruto in amazement. Chiharu was astonished on how he had built upon her old plan and made it even better while Sasuke was amazed he thought of it during battle. Naruto took their silence as a disagreement. "What? You guys think its stupid or something?" Chiharu shook her head rapidly. "No, it's a great plan Naruto!" Sasuke smirked at him. "It's good… for a dobe." Naruto glared at him. "What did you say Sasuke-teme!" Chiharu got between them before they could start arguing. "Fight later, we got to save sensei." They both grumbled before they formed into a v-shape formation with Naruto in the front and Chiharu and Sasuke in the back.

Naruto grinned "Let's go!" He made dozens more shadow clones to replace the ones he had lost during their planning. He charged forward with his clones leading and his teammates behind him. Zabuza chuckled at the sight. "It seems your student have a death wish, Kakashi." Kakashi ignored him as he worriedly watched his team. Why couldn't they listen to him for once and run away. Chiharu and Sasuke disappeared into the wave of shadow clones as they clashed with the water clones. Soon chaos was everyone as shadow clones exploded, kunai were thrown everywhere, and an occasional water clone would dispel.

Soon the tide of battle could be easily seen as the last of Naruto's clones was dispelled and the last one was sent skidding across the ground. Sasuke and Chiharu landed beside the fallen Naruto. The water clones laughed "You guys did better than I thought you would. Still, your nothing but kids playing ninja." Naruto stood up shakily. "Shut up! We'll show you how a true ninja fights!" He grabbed a large shuriken and threw it to Sasuke with a grin. Sasuke caught it and smirked. _So it's finally time to finish this._ Evil Wind Shuriken: **Shadow Windmill**! He jumped into the air and threw the shuriken towards the clone. The water clone laughed as he saw it approach him. "A shuriken won't work on me."

He watched in surprise as it passed him on the side and turned to see it was headed for the real him. " I see you aiming it at the real me…but" The real Zabuza grabbed the shuriken with his free hand. "That's not enough" He looked in shock when he saw a second shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first. He grinned "Still not enough" He prepared to jump before he almost screamed in pain as he felt like something was burning his ankles off. He looked down in shock to see two ice covered hands holding onto his ankles. Underneath him swam Chiharu as she slowly encased his body in ice. He quickly looked up to see the second shuriken a moments away from cutting his legs off. He growled before he released Kakashi and went to grab the second shuriken with his now free hand.

He caught it and grinned. "Almost got me there." His grin slipped when both shurikens he was holding puffed into smoke to reveal a grinning Naruto and a smirking Sasuke. Things only got worse for the him when Kakashi stood up beside him covered in water and pissed. When he caught sight of Kakashi's sharigan, he felt a feeling he rarely felt, fear. His lower legs were immobilized up to the knees by ice, his hands were full with two brats, and Sharigan Kakashi was standing beside him ready to plunge his kunai into his heart. He nearly sighed in relief when he felt the familiar pain of senbon needles enter his throat. _Haku… for the first time, I am happy you learned to use senbon needles._

Zabuza's body went limp as he fell into the water with Naruto and Sasuke. Kakashi turned around to see a mist hunter nin standing on the water. "Thank you for your help. I have been tracking him down for many weeks." Kakashi stared at him for a moment before he turned and fished out his students and Zabuza's body from the water. He placed the body on the shore before checking it's pulse. "He's dead." Naruto glared angrily at the hunter nin as he approached the body. "Who are you!" Kakashi stood up and walked over to him. "Don't worry Naruto, he isn't an enemy." Naruto angrily shook his head. "That's not why I'm asking! He killed Zabuza, he is hardly different from me and he killed him easily. It took all our might just to immobilize him." He gritted his teeth as Chiharu and Sasuke both looked disgruntled as well. "It makes us look like jokes!" Kakashi sighed as he patted Naruto's head. "I know how you feel, but this is the truth. There are kid that are younger than you but stronger than me."

The mist ninja knelt down and picked up Zabuza. "Your battle is over. Now I must dispose of the body." He disappeared before Kakashi could speak. _Strange, why would a hunter nin need to carry a body away. More importantly, why was he in such a rush as well? Could it be…_ Kakashi shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had to make sure to get Tazuna home first. Then he could think over the situation. He turned to his tired students and smiled with pride. "We need to get Tazuna home. But along the way, I would like to know how you guys freed me."

He was proud of his students. It wasn't everyday that three genin were able to immobilize a jounin like Zabuza. Naruto brightened up at that. "It was all my idea!" Kakashi looked at him in surprise as they began to walk. "Oh, then how did you come up with it." Naruto walked beside him with a proud look. "Well it was mostly thank to Chiharu's plan we used against you during our survival test. All I did was make it to where we henged into weapons instead of my clones. I used my clones as a distraction so he wouldn't see us switching places with clones henged like us." Kakashi looked impressed at Naruto. It seemed the blond had some capability in battle. "Anyways, Chiharu was henged as a kunai that I threw into the water. It was her job to immobilize him to make him catch both me and Sasuke in our henged forms." Naruto puffed out his chest in pride. "That way we could rescue you and trap Zabuza from escaping." Kakashi chuckled at the sight. It seemed his students were better than he thought.

[…]

"What!" Came the collective response to his theory about Zabuza being alive. "Zabuza is alive." Naruto pointed at Kakashi in shock. "But you said he was dead. You even checked to make sure." Kakashi nodded. "He had no pulse, but it was most likely a momentary death. The weapon the hunter nin used has a low probably of killing. A skilled hunter nin would be able to easily put a body in a momentary death. We also have to look at the fact that he left in a hurry with the body. Most hunter nins dispose of the body on sight. So with all this evidence, I am sure Zabuza is alive. So we should use our time to prepare." Chiharu looked at him in confusion. "Prepare?" He smiled at her. "Training"

Chiharu frowned "But Kakashi, if Zabuza is alive. What to stop him from attacking us." He looked at her. "It will be awhile before Zabuza's body fully recovers from being in a momentary death state. We should have around a week before he attacks." Naruto grinned in excitement. "So we train until then! Sounds like fun!" A new voice entered the conversation. "That's not fun" Tazuna looked over to see a small boy standing on the welcome mat. "Inari!" he yelled in joy. "Where have you been!" Sadly the old man was the only one glad to see him as his pessimistic attitude had made Chiharu have to hold Naruto back from punching the little kid.

Later in the evening, team 7 stood out in the woods. Sasuke and Naruto were staring at Kakashi in confusion. "Tree climbing exercise?" Kakashi nodded. "This isn't normal tree climbing though. You don't use your hands." He walked to a tree and gathered chakra before he walked up it. Sasuke and Naruto stared at him in amazement. "This exercise is to make you have better control over your chakra." He threw three kunai down in front of his students. "Each one of you choose a tree and use the kunai to mark how high you get up. Use that mark as the goal you want to surpass. You guys are not good enough to walk up the trees so get some momentum and run up them."

Naruto picked up the kunai with a grin. "This training is going to be nothing for me! I'll be done by breakfast." Kakashi jumped down and stared at him. "Stop bragging and pick a tree and climb." Sasuke and Naruto both gathered chakra before running towards their chosen tree. Naruto slipped instantly while Sasuke got around ten steps before he got pushed off from using to much chakra. Naruto looked at Sasuke's mark and then his. _I'm not going to lose to Sasuke!_

Kakashi noticed that Chiharu hadn't tried yet. He turned toward her with a raised eyebrow. "What's wrong?" She looked at him before shaking her head. "Nothing sensei, it's just that I already know this exercise." He study her for a second. "Let me guess, it was Gai who taught you this exercise." She nodded. _Of course, Gai always did take training seriously and I'm sure he would make Chiharu ready for most things when she graduated. _He sighed before he scratched his head. Well, now what was she suppose to do. He couldn't have her not train while the others did. He was well enough to watch the bridge builder. An idea popped in his head. "Have you done water walking yet?" She shook her head. "Gai didn't have enough time to train me. He said that when he found some free time that I could learn it."

Kakashi eye narrowed. _How exactly has Gai taught my student more then me._ "Well, for the rest of the week, I want you to practice water walking. It's the same principle as tree climbing except that you have to expel a constant stream of chakra. I'm sure I saw a dock near Tazuna's house. I want you to go train there while Sasuke and Naruto train here." She nodded before waving goodbye to Naruto and Sasuke and leaving. Naruto looked at Kakashi in confusion. "Where is she going? I thought we were suppose to be training." Kakashi smiled as he thought of a plan for them to work harder. "It seems Chiharu has already mastered the tree walking exercise. So I sent her to practice water walking instead." He turned towards them with a smirk. " It seems Chiharu is the closet ninja to being Hokage. And it seems that the Uchiha clan are not as great as I heard." He walked away as he practically felt the flames of anger and determination flare up behind him. _Sometimes being a teacher is fun. Now the best thing they can do is master as much as they can in a week._

[…]

Across the forest in the hidden tree house. Haku sat beside Zabuza with a spaced out look on his face. Moments before he had almost killed two thugs and broken Gatou's arm. Of course, that was better than what Zabuza had planned to do with the kunai he had in his hands. However, those events were not what was on his mind. No, a girl with white hair and icy blue eyes was what filled his mind. It was quite a shock to him when that girl had revealed her ice bloodline similar to his own. It was possible that another clan had a bloodline like his since she looked nothing like him. It was also possible that they were distant relatives.

"Haku…" He snapped out of his daze to look at Zabuza. "Are you thinking about that girl?" He wasn't even surprised that Zabuza was able to tell what he was thinking. He was after all a tool that was to be used by him. "Yes, Zabuza, I was merely wondering if she had any connections with my clan." Zabuza stared at him with a serious expression. "You do know that you will have to kill her if she stands in our way." Haku didn't even blink. "I know Zabuza, I will let nothing stand in the way of your dream."

Zabuza wasn't fooled by Haku's emotional facade. He had always known that he was a kind hearted boy that was unable to fully accept the thought of being an unemotional tool. Still he had kept him around for his useful bloodline. If the time ever came, he would abandon him if he failed him…he didn't want bonds but tools. He looked back up to the ceiling. "Be sure to prepare for the fight. Don't make any mistakes that will get you killed." Haku smiled. "Yes, Zabuza."

* * *

**AN: **I didn't really change much of the fight here because I really like the way Naruto won in the manga. It showed that he indeed does have "Battle" intelligence. I just changed it to where it would fit the new more aggressive team 7 more.

(1) **C-rank-Ice Pellets Technique: **Fires multiple, sharp Ice pellets at enemy

Next Chapter: **Battle on The Bridge: Ice Bloodlines Collide**


	9. Battle on The Bridge

**Twin Silver Dragon:** No worries, I fully welcome criticism that has merit. As for Naruto, I have intentionally held him back from changing too much. I am going to use the wave arc as the mission that makes Naruto "grow up" in a sense. After this, I fully plan to make Naruto a "much" better ninja in the Chunin Exam Arc.

* * *

**Battle on The Bridge**

It had been three days since Team seven had made it safely to Tazuna's house. Another day of training had gone by and everyone set down to a nice normal dinner. Well as normal as you can get with a pessimistic grandson, drunk bridge builder, two idiots throwing up by eating too much, a girl trying and failing to sneakily hide her vegetables in a napkin, and a perverted masked man who was reading smut instead of eating. Of course, everything exploded when Inari went on a rampage about how hero's don't exist and fled to his room to cry over a torn picture once again. Things didn't get better when Naruto felt like he had to prove that heroes do exist by going to train even more.

There was a moment of silence as everyone sat awkwardly at the now quiet dinner table. The first to move was Chiharu as she worriedly stood up. "Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to go with Naruto to make sure he doesn't hurt himself." He seemed to barely register what she said as he gave a distracted nod as he continued to read his book. She almost rolled her eyes at him before she scurried out of the room and after Naruto. Kakashi eye shifted as he watched her leave. She had been acting suspicious ever since they came to the house days ago. She often snuck her vegetables to her room and bought rather large amount of carrots and celery. Those vegetables had been horded in her room she shared with Tsunami and had yet to grace the table during a meal. He shrugged before he focused back on his book. She'll tell him eventually he supposed… or he could always find out a different way to unveil her secret.

Outside, Chiharu walked quietly towards the clearing where Naruto and Sasuke usually trained. She entered the clearing to see Naruto land on his but as he once again fell from the tree. It looked like he had finally gotten half way up his tree judging form his kunai marks. She looked over to Sasuke's tree to see that the kunai marks were over three fourth of the way up. Looked like Naruto was having more trouble with this exercise then he had told her. She sighed as she sat near him as she got ready to stay awake for half the night.

Over thirty minutes later, and Naruto had failed to make any progress at all. She could see he was getting upset and was beginning to get sloppy in his control. "Naruto," He looked over in surprise at her. "Chiharu? When did you get here." She almost faceplated at that. There was no way he hadn't even seen or sense her… although it was Naruto. She shook her head in disbelief. "I've been here the entire time." He didn't look comfortable when she said that. "So… you saw how bad I really am at this exercise then." She rolled her eyes at him. Why did boys always have to hide that they weren't great at everything. "Yes" He looked disheartened. "But, I'm not making fun of you lack of progress." She flinched at that. "I meant, it looked like you needed the help." Okay that wasn't so good either. "I mean, I want to help."

Naruto begin to laugh as he watched her fumble herself to not make him angry or sad at his lack of progress. _Leave it to Chiharu to try and help while fumbling over herself to not embarrass me_. He grinned at her as sat in front of her. "Okay then Chiharu-sensei! What kind of tips can you give me." She blushed in embarrassment at being called sensei. "Well, you need to calm down Naruto. You getting overly frustrated and that is causing your control to slip." Naruto gave her a confused look. "But, how can I not be frustrated. That tree won't let me climb it." She giggled as he glared at said tree. "Naruto, you "need" to focus on gathering the chakra to the bottom of your feet. You can't run at the tree and throw random amounts of chakra at it." He gave a fake pout at her. "But that's how I always learn." She would have rolled her eyes at what he said if it wasn't true. "You can't learn that way anymore. This exercise is about controlling chakra now instead of throwing it into a jutsu." He grumbled a little before he stood up. "Fine"

Once more he was standing in front of the same damn tree he had been trying to climb for days. "Remember, you have to focus!" yelled Chiharu across the clearing. His eyebrow twitched. _I'm trying to focus here._ He ignored his annoyed thought as he calmed his breathing and focused on his chakra. Once he felt a steady amount flowing around his feet, he charged towards the tree. Almost immediately, he could tell the difference between his previous try and this one. He slipped in surprise at the new feeling and quickly righted himself so that he would land on his feet. He hadn't even gotten a third of the way up, but was jumping around in joy. He pointed at the tree and yelled. "I'm going to beat Sasuke's mark by the end of the night!"

Two hours later, Naruto fell once more from the tree and landed on his feet with a face splinting grin. He looked up to see his mark was now dead even with those of Sasuke's. "Alright, next time I'm going to pass Sasuke's mark, believe it." He turned to Chiharu to see if she saw and stopped in surprise. She was fast asleep as her back rested against a tree in a semi comfortable position. Seems she had fallen asleep while watching him train. A feeling of guilt slowly rose up in him as he knew that he was the reason she was even sleeping out here in the first place. He took of his orange jacket and covered her with it. He would train thirty more minutes before he would take her back to the house. He had to beat Sasuke's mark at least before he left.

[…]

At end of the fourth day of training, both Sasuke and Naruto had finally completed the tree walking exercise. Kakashi had been rather surprised that both boys had been able to complete it in such a short amount of time. He had thought they would at least take the full week to master it. Of course his orders to train hadn't changed at all on the fifth day of training. Naruto looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean we still have to do the tree climbing exercise. Me and Sasuke already made it all the way to the top of our trees." Sasuke didn't complain but his face showed that he also agreed with Naruto. Kakashi sighed "I know, but you should still practice climbing them to increase your chakra control and reserves even more." Naruto didn't look any happier. "Why can't we learn a jutsu instead or something else that can be useful in battle." Sasuke actually perked up at the mention of a new jutsu. Kakashi shook his head. "No Naruto, there is less than three days left before Zabuza will fully recover. You don't have enough time to fully learn a new jutsu. Once we make it through this mission, I'll personally teach you two a new jutsu, okay?" Naruto grumbled a bit before he agreed.

Soon, Kakashi and Tazuna left for the bridge while Chiharu left after them to go to her water walking training. When Kakashi was out of sight, Naruto turned to Sasuke with a sneaky grin. "Hey, Sasuke! Let's follow Chiharu and get her to teach us water walking." Sasuke arched a brow at him. Did he really think that he would actually let one of his teammates "teach" him something "And why would I want to do that dobe?" Naruto rolled his eyes at him. "Fine, I'll go learn better chakra control and you can go climb trees for the rest of the day." Sasuke scoffed but found himself following Naruto out the door. He wasn't going to allow the dobe to surpass him any time soon.

They stayed out of sight as they followed Chiharu towards her regular training ground. To their surprise, she stopped for a second to look around before she continued on past it. Naruto looked at Sasuke in confusion. "Where is she going, doesn't she usually train around here." Sasuke simply shrugged and continued to follow her at a distance. Five minutes later, and she stopped at a small clearing with a small pond in it. She carefully laid her pack down before she opened it. They looked in shock as she pulled out a white bunny from her backpack. Sasuke smirked in amusement. "Guess we know why she came here. Looks like she doesn't want Kakashi to know she kept the rabbit from Zabuza's first attack." Naruto didn't quite get why she had to hide a rabbit from Kakashi but nodded to act like he did. He turned around and headed towards the clearing. "Who cares anyways! Lets ask her to teach us water walking now! Hey Chiharu!"

Chiharu whirled around as she clutched the bunny to her chest. She sighed in relief as she saw it was only Naruto and not Kakashi. "Naruto! Why are you here? I thought Kakashi-sensei told you and Sasuke to practice tree climbing." Naruto grinned at her. "He did, but me and Sasuke want to learn water walking instead!" She noticed Sasuke as he too came out of his hiding spot. "Won't sensei be mad if you don't follow his training." Naruto didn't look worried one bit. "Nah, Kakashi doesn't think were ready, but me and Sasuke are going to show him that we can learn water walking in no time!" She looked unsure at them. "I'm not sure if I should do this without sensei's permission." Sasuke scoffed at that. "You forget that you are raising that rabbit without sensei's knowledge or permission. All you have to do is keep this training a secret as well." She wavered a little but still looked unsure. "I don't know…" Naruto clasped his hands together and begin to beg her to teach them. She sighed. "Fine, I'll teach you water walking."Naruto cheered before he hugged her. "You're the best Chiharu." She blushed in embarrassment as he sat her down. "So" He looked at her in anticipation. "How do we walk on water!"

"It's the same thing as tree climbing, but instead you walking over the water surface." She walked over to the pond and slowly stepped onto it. She wobbled a bit before she steadied. "The different is that you have to release a steady amount of chakra to keep afloat." Naruto's eyes were shining as he watched her walk on the water. "Cool, I'm going to get this exercise in no time!" He quickly gathered chakra to his feet before he stepped onto the water. A splash was heard as his foot sunk into the water and made him tip forward. He came up sputtering as water went up his nose. "What the? Hey Chiharu, I thought you said it was the same as tree climbing!" She was unable to answer as she was caught up in giggling at his fall. "Dobe" Sasuke chose to answer for her. "You forgot that you have to constantly release chakra to stay afloat. Just gathering it to your feet won't work." Naruto blushed in anger. " Shut up Sasuke-teme!" Chiharu continued to giggle as she watched them argue. Looks like training wouldn't be so boring now that she wasn't alone.

Their fifth day of training past as they secretly trained in water walking. They had another "normal" dinner that night that was once again interrupted by a shouting match between Naruto and Inari. _It's become a routine…_ Thought Kakashi as he watched Inari run to his room while Naruto stormed out of the house to train. What surprised him was that Sasuke followed Chiharu as she went after Naruto. _Are they finally working as a team?_

At the training pond, Naruto was already trying to walk on it. Chiharu merely sighed at the sight as she too joined in with a amused looking Sasuke behind her. They trained throughout the night and Chiharu was the first to turn in for the night. She built a small fire near the pond and borrowed Naruto's jacket as she laid beside it for the night. Both Sasuke and Naruto trained for a lot longer as both refused to be the first one to give up. They both ended up crashing from exhaustion hours later.

Late into the sixth morning, Naruto found himself being awaken by a kick to his side. He jumped up and screamed at the only person who would wake him up like that. "Sasuke-teme, why in the hell did you kick me for!" Sasuke smirked. "Were late for breakfast dobe. It seems that Chiharu already left before us." Naruto looked over to see her gone and only his folded up jacket was left. "Oh, Chiharu didn't wake us up so she could get the good parts of breakfast!" Sasuke rolled his eyes at him. "It's more like she probably knew we needed the rest. I woke you up, so I'm going back. You can train more or come and eat. I don't really care what you do." With that said, Sasuke turned and walked away as he headed for Tazuna's house. Naruto picked up his jacket and turned towards the pond. "Ha, I can train while Sasuke's eating and pull ahead of him." A loud grumble filled the air as his stomach disagreed with the plan. He grimaced. "Or I can eat first."

He smelt the food before he saw it as he entered the kitchen with drool hanging from his mouth. "Smells delicious!" Tsunami laughed as she told him to sit as she prepared him a plate. He excited sat down and looked around the table at everyone. He paused when he noticed that Chiharu wasn't at her usual spot. "Where did Chiharu go?" Kakashi looked up form his book. "Oh, she was here earlier eating breakfast with us. I noticed that she had a hole in her bag and told her that she would need to get a new one. For some reason she froze up with shock then scramble over to it as she looked inside for something." Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other as they both knew what she was looking for. " When she didn't find it, she grabbed a bag of carrots and ran out the door." He looked at them with a knowing eye. "So, do you two have any idea what she was looking for." Sasuke merely chewed his food as he let a neutral hn as Naruto laughed nervously. "No way Kakashi-sensei. Me and Sasuke wouldn't know what she kept in her backpack." Sasuke sighed at Naruto's lack at not getting caught lying. "Dobe" Naruto looked at him in anger "What did you say, Teme!"

[…]

Haku had decided that morning that he needed to gather some herbs for Zabuza. It was a simply plan to walk out real quick and have a peaceful time gathering herbs. His plan went array when he walked upon a most unusual sight. He found himself standing before a tree that had half of a girl's body sticking out of its roots. "Um…Are you okay?" The stuck girl twitched at his unexpected voice. A quiet muffled voice echoed out from the roots in response. "No… I'm stuck." He found himself smiling in amusement at the girl. "May I ask how you got stuck?" He could practically feel the girl blushing from where he stood. "I…I was chasing my rabbit who ran away. I saw it run into the hole here. I caught it, but now I'm stuck.." A small chuckled escaped his lips and the girl seemed to deflate as she heard him. "You laughing at me aren't you." He quickly stifled his chuckle as he walked over to her body. "I'm sorry that I laughed. Is there any way I can help you?" The girl shifted a little as she tried to get loose. "Could you maybe…um… help pull me out?" Haku nodded his head before he remember she couldn't see him "Sure"

He kneeled by her body as he tried to find a safe spot to grab on to. He felt himself blush when he realized that he would have to hold her around the waste to pull her out. "Um…I'm g-going to have to g-grab you around the waste to pull you out." The girl stiffened and he could practically see the blush coming off her in waves. "…O-O-Okay" He carefully wrapped his arms around her waste and began to pull. Seconds later and he decided that she was stuck good. He looked around carefully before he sent chakra to his feet and pulled even harder. With a weird "popping" sound, the girl's body came out of the hole. He stumbled back and landed on the ground with the girl on top of him. Below him a loud crunching noise was heard. _I think I just broke my basket._

The girl hastily got off of him and turned around. "Thank you for getting me out of there." He studied her as she thank him. She was not to tall, white hair, icey blue eyes, and held a… strangely familiar bunny in her arms. He came to the realization that this was one of the genin that had help defeat Zabuza. He kept his face in smile as he picked himself up. "No need to thank me. I couldn't leave you stuck in that hole." The girl smiled at him and introduced herself. "I'm Chiharu and this" she held up her bunny. "Is Puffball!" Haku couldn't stop himself from being amused at the name. "My name is Haku… and did you really name your bunny, Puffball?" She pouted at his disbelief in her naming of small fluffy animals. "What? It's a good name for a rabbit." He chuckled "It is a unique name."

Chiharu grumbled a bit as she knew he didn't believe her name was good. "So Haku, what were you doing at here?" He picked up his squashed basket. "I was going to find some herbs but…" Chiharu realized it her fault and bowed hastily. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble." He shook his head. "Don't worry, I can still carry some back with me. Truthfully, I didn't really need that much anyways." She brightened up slightly but still looked slightly guilty. "Oh, then let me help you gather them. It's the least I can do since you helped me already." Haku quickly went over whether it was a good idea to stay so close to an enemy ninja. Before he could decide, Chiharu had grabbed his hand and was pulling him along. "I saw some pretty flowers over here. Maybe they are some of the things you are looking for."

He felt shock at the contact and found himself being pulled along as he stared at their connected hands. He couldn't remember the last time he had any contact with people beside fighting. He cleared his head as he gently stopped her. "I already know where the herbs are. They mostly grow in that way." He pointed in the complete opposite direction of where they were headed. Chiharu blushed in embarrassment. "Oh… I think maybe you should lead the way then." He smiled at her before he began to lead her towards the original clearing he was headed towards. All the way, Chiharu hadn't let go of his hand.

An hour later, and Haku had come to the decision that he liked this girl. She was clumsy, nice, awkward, strong, and a bad namer but it all worked towards her charm. The only thing that was bothering him was that he knew she thought he was a girl. It was quiet obviously when she asked him what kind of shampoo he used. A girl usually didn't ask a guy that question. He looked up into the sky to see the sun had risen quite high. He looked over to her with a sad smile. "I'm sorry but it seems that I have to go now." Chiharu who had been busy stopping Puffball from eating the herbs, looked up in surprise. "Oh, Okay" She looked sad as well. "Maybe we'll see each other again before I leave." Haku had to fight to not look even sadder. _We we'll see each other again, but we will be trying to kill each other when we do._

He stood up and gathered the herbs he could carry home. "Goodbye, Chiharu. It was rather fun finding herbs with you." He began to walk away as Chiharu waved. "Oh," He turned around with a slightly mischievous grin on his face. "I'm a boy." She turned completely red as she slowly went through all things she had done with him. From holding his hand, picking flowers, asking about his shampoo, and all the other embarrassing things she wouldn't have done with a boy. A small "eep" came out of her mouth as she ran away in embarrassment. Her reaction caused him to smile all the way home and throughout the day.

[…]

It was the morning of the eighth day, and Naruto had come back from his training sick. He laid asleep in his bed with a red, stuffy nose. Kakashi sighed as he led his team out the door. "I told him not to train last night. We were all suppose to guard the bridge today in case Zabuza showed up." Chiharu grinned while Sasuke smirked as they both thought the same thing. _Since when did Naruto listen to anyone?_

Thirty minutes later and Naruto was woken by as two thugs busted through the door of the house. He stumbled around disoriented as a raging headache pounded away at his head. He forget his headache when he heard Tsunami scream. He dashed down the stairs to see two thugs were in the process of tying her arms behind her back. He jumped down the stairs and dashed towards them. "Let her go or you'll have to deal with Uzumaki Naruto!" Both thugs whirled around as they brought their swords up. "Who are you b-" He was cut off as Naruto planted his fist in one the thugs faces. He ducked under the other thugs sword and uppercuted him. He looked around in confusion as he saw that they were already down. "…Man, I must be better than I thought." He untied Tsunami and quickly ran up to get changed. He came back down to see a crying Inari hugging his mother. He didn't say anything as he walked by. If they were attacking here, then that means the people at the bridge were in trouble. He ran out of the house and jumped into the trees as he headed for the bridge. _Don't worry guys. I'm coming to help._

At the bridge, things were looking very serious as Sasuke stood trapped in a dome of ice mirrors. Senbons stuck out of him in different places but he had managed to not get hit an any major areas. "You are faster than I first thought." He looked in anger at the masked figure that was in the mirrors. He had easily been faster than him when he wasn't in the mirrors. All that training he had done with tree and water walking had increased his speed. All that was negated though when the bastard used his Bloodline that was eerily familiar to his teammate's. He didn't want to admit it but it would probably be a more even match if another ice user was fighting him. Not that he would ever tell anyone he thought that.

He tensed as he saw the boy prepare to attack again. "Give up, you cannot defeat me while you are in my dome." Sasuke smirked at the boy. He obviously didn't know him and he wasn't going to sit here and let him attack at will. His hands flew through several signs as inhaled. Fire Release: **Great Fireball Technique**. A giant fireball slammed into the mirrors before him and covered them in flames. His reward was several senbons ripping into him. "Flames like that will not be strong enough to destroy my mirrors."

Outside his dome of mirrors, Chiharu shakily watched as Sasuke was slowly but surly being defeated. _What do I do?_ She looked at her bloody teammate then at Tazuna. She couldn't save her teammate because she had to protect Tazuna. Surprisingly, Tazuna spoke to her in an understanding voice. "You can go if you want to. It was my mistake that caused you guys to be caught up in this." She looked at him in shock. "I c-can't do that. What if you get killed because I wasn't here to protect you?" Tazuna gave her a sad smile. "And what if you teammates dies because you decided to protect me." Chiharu didn't say anything as her teeth gritted together.

Inside the dome of mirrors, Sasuke was beginning to feel like he could actually see the attacks. _Is he getting slower, or am I getting faster?_ He shook his head as he dodged the next attack that came at him. _It doesn't matter, I can't get distracted. I have to watch his every move and see through them!_ Without his knowing, his eyes were slowly changing as he fought for his life against Haku.

Inside the mirror, Haku was steadily getting tired. _How is he dodging my attacks. It's like he is starting to be able to see them. Whatever it is, I have to finish him now while I still have chakra._ He brought up his senbon needles. "This is the end" He flashed through his mirrors and sent hundreds of senbons at Sasuke. He felt his annoyance rise as Sasuke dodged all his major attacks. Sasuke smirked at him as he looked at him to reveal his changed eyes. _Sharigan! No…_ He noticed that the left eye had not fully changed yet. _I can still finish him before it fully awakens._

He flashed through his mirrors again. Sasuke dodged and blocked his attacks as he danced around in his mirrors. Haku sent dozens of senbons towards Sasukes right side to and watched as the boys sharigan tracked them. He quickly transported to the mirror to Sasuke left and charged straight at him with senbons in his hand. Sasuke eyes widen in surprised when he saw him and he hastily brought up a senbon to deflect the incoming attacks. "To late!" Haku threw dozens of senbons from a close distance from Sasuke and transported back into a mirror. He looked down to see the Sasuke was still standing. _Did he block my attacks!_

Sasuke smirked before he coughed up some blood. His left arm and leg were both covered in senbon needles. _Damn it, I can't feel my arm or leg._ He gritted his teeth as he pull out some of the needles. He wouldn't be able to move any time soon. He was a sitting duck for Haku's attacks now. "You fought well, but give up now. You can no longer fight. I… do not wish to kill you." Sasuke scoffed. "I don't need your pity." Haku stared at him from behind his mask. "Very well then…"

Outside, Chiharu knew that Sasuke was going to die in the next attack as she watched him fight to stay standing. "Sorry Tazuna, but it seems like I can't let my teammate die." Tazuna grunted "It's okay kid, I don't blame you for wanting to save your friend." She looked at him sadly. "Could you make sure he's okay while I distract his enemy." He nodded. "Sure." She turned away and began to form hand seals. "Thank you."

Inside, Haku shot out of his mirror towards Sasuke. He threw his senbons towards the immobilized ninja. _It's over._ Ice Release: **Ice Wall Technique. **A large wall rose up and divided the dome in two. His senbons bounced off harmlessly and he skidded to a stop before he could smash into it. _Where did this wall come from!_ He received his answer when Chiharu barreled into him and tackled him out of his dome. They skidded across the bridge and slammed into a makeshift barrier that blocked the side of the unfinished bridge. The force of their two bodies caused the barrier to break as they both went flying off the bridge and into the water below.

Sasuke watched in shock as his teammates disappeared over the edge of the bridge. He fell as he tried to run over to the side to look for her. A hand grabbed his shoulder. "Calm down kid. You don't want to kill yourself right after you teammate saved you." He turned around to see a sad Tazuna. "I'm sure she's okay, she is a ninja too you know." He scoffed but still looked worriedly at the spot where she had disappeared.

Across the bridge, both Kakashi and Zabuza felt the disappearance of their two students. "It seems that one of your students has managed to take Haku with them off the bridge." He smirked underneath his wrappings. "It was a foolish idea to bring someone like Haku to a place where there is more water he can use." Kakashi was barely listening as he figured out which student had fallen. He sighed in relief as he felt Sasuke was still on the bridge. "I wouldn't be so sure Zabuza. I'm sure you know that you apprentice isn't the only one who can use ice." Zabuza almost cursed as he remembered the girl who had a similar bloodline to Haku. It seemed that he would need to hurry and kill Kakashi. Haku was strong, but he had been using his bloodline for awhile now, and his main advantage was negated with his new opponent. "I see, then I have to make sure and kill you quickly Kakashi." Kakashi tensed as he felt Zabuza's killing intent leak out from the mist. "We'll see who dies in the end Zabuza."

The dome of mirrors on the other side of the bridge began to crack and crumbled around Sasuke. He looked around in surprise as the strong ice mirrors broke apart into shards of ice. Tazuna looked at him in confusion. "What's going on." Sasuke didn't answer him as he tried to figure it out as well. _Did Chiharu already defeat him? No, that's not possible. It's more likely that he is no longer in range to keep the jutsu going._

His thoughts were interrupted when Naruto arrived on the scene. "Uzumaki Naruto! Has finally arrived!" Sasuke frowned. "Dobe, your late." Naruto looked at Sasuke in shock. "What happened to you Sasuke-teme!" Sasuke groaned as he sat up. "Sasuke accomplish. He can control ice like Chiharu can." Naruto looked around. "Where is the bastard! I'll show him not to mess with us." Sasuke gritted his teeth. "He fell off the bridge when Chiharu jumped in to save me." Naruto laughed. "So the great Sasuke had to be saved and by Chiharu." He looked around when he noticed she wasn't there. "Where is she anyways?" Sasuke didn't answer him. Naruto began to feel worried. "Where is she!" Sasuke glared at him. "She fell off the bridge with him dobe."

Naruto heart almost stopped. "She fell with him! What were you doing Sasuke-teme. Why did you allow that to happen!" Sasuke scoffed at him in disdain. "I wouldn't be talking Naruto." Naruto stepped back in shock. "W-what the hell do you mean." Sasuke didn't even look at him as he answered. "None of this would have happened if you actually grew up. You ask why I didn't do anything, but the better question was where were you! Oh, that's right, you were in bed sick because you didn't want to follow orders. You were to busy acting like a competing child to actually care about this mission!"

Naruto turned red in anger. "That's not true Sasuke. I trained hard so I could help protect Tazuna and everyone." Sasuke looked at him in anger. "Then where were you earlier. Where were you when I was trapped in the ice dome. Where were you when Chiharu fell off the bridge. You were to busy acting like a idiot and expecting to show up here like a hero. That's what you were doing." Naruto silently opened and closed his mouth. _He is right._ His thought shocked him. They were undermanned because he was stupid enough to get sick right before the battle. He had been angry at them when he found out they left him. He had even went over in his mind how he would show up and save them. He had even stopped for a moment to go over his entrance before he joined them.

He grabbed his jacket as he felt humiliation and regret flow through him. Now it was possible that Chiharu was dead and he wasn't here to help. "I'll look for her!" He turned around and began to run towards the edge of the bridge. "Naruto stop!" He stopped and turned around to see a angry Sasuke. "What good will it do leaving us here like this. Chiharu could be dead for all we know, or she could die before you even reach her." Naruto gritted his teeth in anger. "Then what do you think we should do. We have to look for her. She may still be alive." Sasuke nodded his head. "We'll look for her, but it will have to wait till after this mission. Did you forget that we are here to protect Tazuna. I can't even protect myself in this condition. If you leave, it could end up killing us both." Naruto felt torn between what he wanted to do and what he knew he had to do. He nodded before he walked over and sat beside Sasuke. Never again would he allow something like this to happen.

[…]

Chiharu and Haku were kneeling on the river surface as each was feeling their wounds. They had fought from the moment they fell to now. They had been swept so far from the bridge that they couldn't even see it anymore. Ice layered the water around them and some were red from blood. "You are most talented in your ability to use ice." Said Haku as he stood up. "This is the first time I have ever had to fight another ice user." Chiharu gulped as she too stood up. "Your even more amazing. You have been fighting for much longer than me, but are still able to fight me easily."

Haku wished that what she said was true, but felt the first signs of chakra exhaustion already forming. He had been fighting for too long now. He had to finish this fight before his chakra gave out. "If you surrender, I promise that I will let you live." Chiharu shook her head and gave a small smile. "I'm sure you will kill Tazuna if I let you go." Haku smiled behind his mask. "You are right… then it seems we have to fight."

They charged at each other and clashed in a taijutsu brawl over the water. They weaved between punches and kicks as they both tried to find a weakness in the others defense. They broke apart and Haku flashed through hand seals. Ice Release: **Flying Water Needles**, Dozens of frozen needles flew at Chiharu. Ice Release: **Ice wall,** A ice wall came up to take the attack as Chiharu ran around it and formed her own hand seals. Ice Release:**Ice Pellets**, He intercepted them by creating a ice mirror in front of him. They bounced off it as he created another behind the surprised Chiharu. He quickly teleported between mirrors and stepped out behind her. She spun around with kunai in hand and struck at the same time as him. They both froze as they felt the tip of the others weapon against their necks.

They stood still atop the water as each stared at each other. Haku spoke first. "It seems we are stuck." Chiharu didn't look too concerned. "Yes, it does." Haku felt suspicious of her laid back attitude towards their predicament. Was she confident that she could win. He knew that if it came down to how much chakra they had left, then he would lose. He could barely stand on the water and his last attack had been his final attempt to win. "So what do we do now?"

Chiharu smiled as she lowered her weapon. He looked at her in confusion before he noticed he couldn't move. "What did you do!" He looked at his body to see that his arms and part of his legs were frozen. An image of her freezing Zabuzas legs entered his mind. He had forgotten that she could freeze things with her touch. "If you surrender, I'll spare your life and only take you prisoner." He looked up to see Chiharu panting as she pulled out some rope from her pack. A sense of emptiness entered him as he knew he lost. He was now a useless tool that Zabuza no longer needed. He released the chakra he had gathered at his feet and felt his body sink. He caught a glimpse of Chiharu's shocked face before he was fully surrounded by the cold dark water. He felt strangely at piece as he felt the coldness of the river envelope him. This was the way a broken tool was to go, alone.

He was surprised when he felt himself be tugged up above the water. He gasped as air filled his lungs again. He looked around in shock as he felt himself be thrown onto the shore of the river. He caught sight of a soaked Chiharu as she knelt on the ground beside him as she gasped for air. "Why did you save me." She looked at him in sadness. "Why did you want to die? Haku was surprised by her question. "Because Zabuza no longer needs me. I have failed the one person in this world that means the most to me." She looked at him in disbelief. "and killing yourself will make it up to him?" Haku groggily shook his head as his exhaustion slowly overcame him. "No… but I can no longer be of service to him. My life has no meaning." He slowly turned his head towards her. "Please, Chiharu." She gasped as he heard her say her name. "Please… take... My… life."

She crawled over to him. "How do you know my name?" She shook him when he didn't answer. "Who are you." When he still didn't answer, she worriedly took off his mask to see if he was still breathing. She gasped when she saw the pale face of Haku. "Haku? Is that you? Haku!" She placed her ear against his chest and heard a weak heartbeat. "Haku don't die on me. You have some explaining to do." She tied him up as best she could before she shakily placed him over her shoulder and stood up. "I have to get back to sensei."

[…]

Kakashi panted as he knelt down beside a dead Zabuza. Across from him was Gato, and his horde of thugs. "They couldn't even handle their jobs before they died. What a bunch of useless ninja. It was a good thing I had decided I wasn't going to pay them anyways." He stood up as Naruto landed beside him. "Kakashi-sensei, what do we do?" Kakashi looked at the large number of thugs before he sighed. He had about a third of his chakra left. With Naruto help, it would be rather easy to defeat them. "Get ready Naruto, I want you to use your shadow clones to fight them while I take care of Gatou." Naruto wore an unusual look of seriousness on his face. "Okay, Sensei."

He formed dozens of shadow clones and attack. Kakashi used the clones as cover as he appeared beside Gatou. The man let out a garble yell as he drowned on his own blood from the kunai in his throat. The thugs looked in shock as their employer dead before them. Kakashi sighed as he raised his voice. "You have two choices. You can run and live, or" He created shadow clones and stood in front of them. "You can all die right here." Minutes later and the bridge was clear of thugs. Kakashi looked around as he watched Tazuna walk over to him. "Good job team, we have successful clear our mission." Naruto grunted but didn't jump around in joy like he thought he would. "What is wrong Naruto?" He looked up with a worried face. "Can I go look for Chiharu now. She fell off the bridge ages ago." Kakashi nodded as he gave a tired sigh. "Okay, Naruto your job is to go find Chiha-"

"Sensei!" He stopped when he saw a soaked Chiharu carrying an unconscious boy on her back. Naruto face brightened up as he ran towards her. He was followed by a bleeding Sasuke and a tired Kakashi. "Chiharu your alright!" Chiharu gave Naruto a quick smile before she looked at Kakashi with worry in her eyes. "Something's wrong with him. He won't wake up." Sasuke got a good look at the kid before he grunted in anger. "Isn't that Zabuza's apprentice." Kakashi looked at her in surprise. _She wants me to help the boy?_ Chiharu looked annoyed. "I know he is but he isn't that bad of person!" She turned to Kakashi with a pleading look. "Please sensei, help him." Kakashi looked at her face before he sighed. _Things are only going to get more complicated from here._

__**AN:** I know that it is strange for me to take Naruto out of the fight completely. However, I think Naruto always needed to learn that arriving late to a battle is "Not" the way to go.


	10. Chunin Exams Begin

**Chunin Exams Begin!**

Two weeks later, Team seven completed their mission when Tazuna finished his bridge. They all sat together at the last dinner they would have at his place before they left for Konoha in the morning. Kakashi looked at his team while they ate. Naruto was laughing and joking with a now happy Inari and a drunk Tazuna. Sasuke was trying and failing to hide his blush as Tsunami gave him a motherly smile as he asked for seconds. Chiharu ate silently with a sad look in her eye. He sighed as he knew the reason was the boy they had tied up upstairs. She was too soft and she wasn't expecting the way Haku would act when he awoke to find Zabuza dead. The boy face went devoid of all motion and he had said one sentence. "Kill me."

After that, he hadn't spoken or willing eaten anything for the past two weeks. He was only alive because Kakashi was forced to intervene and shove food down his throat every day. Although, he did partially understand why she acted this way. Her first friend she made outside of Konoha happened to be an enemy ninja they had to fight the next day. She would have eventually learned that their would be people in this world who would deceive her. It was just happened earlier than he wanted, in his opinion.

His musing ended when Chiharu stood up and picked up her half eaten plate. "I'm going upstairs." Kakashi watched as she walked out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. He could see Naruto was also watching her with a frustrated look on his face. Naruto didn't like seeing Chiharu so sad and had made it his mission to knock some sense into Haku. Sadly, even Naruto words seemed to bounce of the unresponsive boy. The only response he gave was when Zabuza's name was said and at most it was a twitch or eye shift.

After dinner, Kakashi entered the room where Haku was kept to see a familiar sight. The boy laid on the floor unmoving while Chiharu sat across from him. As always they both sat still and were both staring at each other silently. Between them was a plate of half eaten food that Chiharu had brought up. He could tell from Chiharu's sad face that Haku was refusing to eat once again. He cleared his throat and both of them turned towards him. He gave a fake eye smile. "Hello, Haku. How are you feeling today." Haku merely stared at him with a blank look before he turned away. He didn't let that annoy him as he walked over and sat beside Chiharu. "Tomorrow we will be heading back to Konoha. I'm sure that you know that you have no choice but to come with us." As expected, Haku didn't really seem to care that he was going to be brought back to an enemy village. "However, I would like it if you would at least try and make the journey there not so hard. So… I have a deal for you. If you promise to actually eat from now on, then I'll allow you to see Zabuza's grave before we leave."

Two things happened after his little speech. Chiharu let out a surprised gasp as she looked at Kakashi in shock and Haku actually sat up. Kakashi simply stared at Haku as he saw the first signs of emotion in his eyes for weeks. There was a war between his will to die and his will to see his master's grave. Ever so slowly, Haku reached for the plate and begin to slowly eat. Chiharu smiled for the first time in weeks as she scooted closer and tried to get Haku talking. Kakashi sighed at the sight before he left the room. They had a long way to go to get Haku to want to live again. He had sparked some life into him. Now it was all up to Chiharu and the others to keep him alive long enough to want to live.

The next day, his group and Haku were standing before a grave with a huge blade behind it. Haku was in front of team seven as he looked at his master's grave with many emotional swirling in his eyes. Kakashi was behind him with a watchful eye. He was going to make sure he didn't try anything stupid, like impaling himself on the sword in front of him. Luckily, Haku kept to his promise and all that happened was a few tears shed as he silently grieved his master. "Time to go." said Kakashi as he gently pulled the boy with him.

They met up with Tazuna and the others at the now completed bridge. It was a quick sad goodbye with some tears shed, mostly by Naruto and Inari, as they left the village. As Tazuna watched them go, he grinned as he heard one of the villages ask about what the name would be. "I got a super perfect name for it… it will be called The Great Leaf Bridge." The village looked at him in confusion. "Why such a name." He smiled as he watched team seven in the distance. "It's in honor of those leaf ninja who fought to protect this country when we did not. Hopefully, this bridge will serve as a reminder to us to always fight for our dreams."

Team seven return trip home was uneventful as Haku stuck to his bargain to eat. He was no longer unemotional but now he always gave off a depressing aura that was getting on everyone's nerves. Naruto actually cheered as he saw the gates of Konoha as he knew he was going to be free from the depressing aura. Kakashi told his team to rest up and meet him two days from now for more missions. Then he took Haku to the Hokage's office and was unsurprised to see Chiharu was following him. He turned towards her with a eye smile. "Chiharu, you don't have to be here for this. I can tell you where they put him later." She looked at Haku worriedly before she turned toward him. "You promise they won't kill Haku?" Kakashi nodded. "I promise." Chiharu gave him a grateful smile before she headed home to crash.

He was truthful to his word as the Hokage decided that he would be imprisoned for his own safety. The boy had no known bounties and was never a ninja of any village. So they had no worries about causing an incident with other villages. The only problem they had was his attitude he had about his life. They couldn't willing allow a person who wanted to die free reign in their village. That was an accident waiting to happen. Hopefully, things would change as time passed and Chiharu visiting him might give him a reason to live.

He sighed as he finally got home. He crashed on the couch and pulled out his book. He had two days of relaxation before his team got any more missions. He was going to use them to the fullest. Sadly, his plans were destroyed when Kotori came into the leaving room with a serious face. "We need to talk." He had a feeling that he wasn't going to like this "talk".

[…]

The next day, Chiharu found herself sitting at Ichiraku Ramen stand in confusion. She had planned to visit Haku that morning. She was determined to get him to at least give life another chance. She was armed with Puffball in one hand and a lunchbox in the other when she left her house. Then came along the hurricane named Kotori as all her plans were washed away when she was grabbed by her and dragged there with Naruto. Kotori had sat herself in between them and demanded that they tell her about the mission. So for the next hour, they told her all about the mission, Tazuna's family, the fights, their training, and all about Haku. She listened the entire time with a serious face and only interrupted to ask a question or two.

Once they were done explaining, she had smiled and congratulated them on even surviving the mess. Chiharu didn't know if she should be happy or worried that Kotori didn't seem that worried that they had fought an A-rank missing ninja. She sighed as she saw a glint in the other girls eye as she turned toward her. "So… I hear your making a fuss over this Haku fellow." Chiharu blushed as Kotori wiggled her eyes suggestively. "It's not like that Tori! He… is just a friend I made before I knew he was the enemy." Kotori grew serious as she saw the sad look on the girls face. "So what are you going to do about him then?" Chiharu sighed. "Sensei said the best thing to do is to keep visiting him." Kotori nodded. "Yeah, nothing like a little human contact to get a boy going." She blushed as she looked at her in shock. "Tori, please stop teasing me! I'm being serious." Kotori laughed "Fine, but I want to meet this boy later and make sure he doesn't corrupt my little Chiharu." Chiharu blushed as Naruto chocked on some ramen as he overheard what she said. "Ohhh, Your hopeless Tori!" She stood up and ran as she took Puffball and her lunch with her to eat with Haku.

Kotori watched her go with a pleased face. Chiharu always looked better blushing or laughing instead of that sad look on her face. A quick shake of the head cleared her thoughts. _I'm starting to act to much like Anko-sensei. _She turned towards Naruto. _Now I got to get Naruto out of his own depression. _Now to a stranger, Naruto would look perfectly happy as he munched away on his ramen. To Kotori, the signs were clear as day. Once you saw the real Naruto and his overwhelming emotions, then you could come to tell when something was bothering him. Right now at that moment, Naruto was wearing his "happy" mask he used to wear when he was in the academy. It usually involved an all too stiff smile that never left his face as he tried to shove fake joy out of his ass.

Well, she was having none of that. "Hey Naruto, what's wrong with my favorite little orange ball of sunshine today." Naruto stiffened before he plastered a grin on his face. "What do you mean Tori. I'm eating ramen, why wouldn't I be happy to be eating the best food in the world?" She placed her elbow on the counter as she leaned against it. "Oh, so nothing from the mission bothered you at all?" Naruto grin seemed to grow bigger that it almost sickened her with its fakeness. "Why would it bother me at all. I mean my team did an A-rank mission and were still just genin. Were awesome." She just stared at him silently before she poked him in the forehead. "Liar…Now put away that mask and tell me everything."

Naruto sighed as he felt his mask shatter under her poke. She always seemed to be able to break his mask with a simple poke to the forehead. He looked at her with regretful eyes and told her everything. From him freezing in his first battle, not listening to Kakashi, and not being there for his team when they needed him the most. By the time he was finished, he was staring at his ramen. He didn't want to look at her and see the disappointment he knew was there.

"Idiot…" He looked up in shock to see an annoyed Kotori. "That's what got you all tied up in a knot?" Naruto felt some anger rise up in him at the casual dismissal of his worries. "Tori, Those thing are rather important to me." She grinned at him. "I know, but those things are easy to fix." Naruto looked at her in surprise. "Tell me how I can fix them. I… don't ever want to not be able to help my friends again." She leaned against the counter in a comfortable manner. " Easy, from now on for the next month, your going to train with me." He looked at her in confusion. "How am I going to do that when we both have our own missions and my training with team seven." She didn't look trouble at all. "My new mission is based inside the village. So, I'll be here in the village for the next two to three months. As for you, you probably only receive D-rank missions for awhile and I'm sure Kakashi's training isn't even that long."

Naruto actually felt excited for the first time in days. "Okay, then when and where should we meet up!" Kotori smiled. "Around three at training ground 24. Oh, and there is someone else training with me beside you. I'm sure you won't mind. In fact, I just "know" your going to love this person." Naruto leaned forward in curiosity. "Who is it? Come on tell me!" She smirked as she stood up. "Ah, where would be the fun in that. You'll know tomorrow. Oh, and Naruto." Her smirk turned dark. "I'm going to beat those faults and fears out of you." She laughed at Naruto face before she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto gulped as he began to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

As promised, Naruto found Kotori waiting for him at training ground 24 at three. "Oh, you're a little early Naruto. You excited about training with me?" Naruto laughed nervously as he nodded. "You know I'm never one to refuse training." She grinned at him. "Go do some stretches, we still have to wait for your training partner to get here." He smirked at her. "Yes, "sensei" whatever you say." She rolled her eyes at him as he set about his stretch exercise.

Five minutes, later and Naruto was shocked to see his favorite pink haired girl was none other than his training partner. His joy wasn't shared as Sakura looked at Kotori pleading. "You can't be serious…" Kotori smirked at her. "Oh, I'm serious Sakura, and you have no right to complain. Naruto should be the one complaining here." Behind Sakura, Naruto was making pleading motions to not get Sakura angry at him. She ignored him completely. "Naruto here is the genin and you're an academic student. He has successfully complete actual ninja missions while you have done none. I'm aslo sure his skills are on another level than yours." By now Sakura was fuming as Naruto was crying in frustration at Kotori. Sakura took a deep breath before she gritted her teeth. "Fine…It's nice to be training with you…" Her face seemed to contort in pain. "Naruto." He completely missed her painful expression as he jumped in joy. "This is going to be great Sakura. Were going to have loads of fun training together." Kotori laughed as she watched Sakura try and not have a meltdown.

"Okay that's enough you two. Before we begin, I need to know what skills you know Naruto." He stood to attention as he listed off his skills. "Shadow clones, Sexy jutsu, tree climbing, water walking, henge, ..uh… that's it." Kotori almost smashed her face into her palm. That was all he knew? What in the world was Kakashi thinking? At least he knew water walking so she could skip directly to his taijutsu and ninjutsu. "Uh, that's not good, better then Sakura's but still not good." Said girl looked angrily at her. It wasn't her fault that she was still an academic student. "Naruto, I'm going to train you in taijutsu first. I can already tell that you don't even have the academic style down. So, I'm going to teach you that first before I go into anything else."

Naruto looked at her in shock. "That's it? I thought it was going to be hard training!" She rolled her eyes at him. "I can't train you if you don't even have the basic down first. The academic style is know for its adaptability. Most Taijutsu styles today have been born from one changing that style into something more. Once you learn it, we can work on creating your own style. As for ninjutsu, I'm going to have to talk to Kakashi before I start training you two." Naruto looked at her in confusion. "Why so you have to talk to Kakashi-sensei first." She sighed. "Because I'm going to need some special paper from him. I'm going to find out your chakra nature before I start teaching you jutsus. It will help me know which jutsu you can learn quicker than others." Naruto still didn't quiet get it, but if it would make him stronger faster then it had to be good. "Okay."

Kotori sighed as Naruto finally accepted her decision. "Naruto you can't question my training so much, or will never actually have time to train." Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry." She waved his apology off before she jumped back from them. "Okay, I want you and Sakura to spar against each other." Naruto looked worried. "Don't worry Naruto, Sakura is better at Taijutsu than you think. Plus, this is only a taijutsu spar using academic style and nothing else." He still looked a little worried but nodded as they both got into their starting stance. Kotori almost groaned as she saw the huge difference between them. "Naruto, look at Sakura's form and then at yours. See the difference, that's not a good thing. Try and make it look more like hers." Naruto fumbled around as he tried to copy Sakura's stance. "uh…That's good enough for now. Now remember guys, this is only a spar. Don't try and hurt each other, especially you Sakura." Sakura looked slightly sad while Naruto looked relieved. "Okay guys, you can begin."

Five minutes into the fight, and Kotori had already corrected Naruto "fifteen" times while Sakura only messed up three times. "My god Naruto, how in the hell did you even pass the taijutsu part of the test." Naruto blushed as he dodged another punch. "I don't know, I just winged it the entire time." She rolled her eyes. "Of course." An hour passed before she brought their training to an end. "Okay, now I want you Naruto to help Sakura with water walking for the rest of the time." Sakura looked at her in surprise. "What!" She grinned at them. "Simple, my training schedule is going to be Taijutsu, chakra control, and then ninjutsu when the time comes. Seeing as you won't learn ninjutsu for now, I want you two to work on your chakra control." Sakura looked at her in confusion. "But why is Naruto going to teach me." She shrugged her shoulders. "eh, Naruto already has this exercise down. Plus, you two need to learn to work together if you two are going to train together." Naruto looked happy. "Don't worry Sakura-chan. You're the smartest girl I know. You'll get it easily." Sakura still looked unhappy but nodded as she followed him to a stream nearby.

Kotori watched them for afar with a grin. Naruto was shouting words of encouragement as he jumped excited on the river as Sakura took her first tentative step onto the water. She laughed when she saw her fall in. Naruto was quick to help her out of the water. Instead of laughing, he was grinning ear from ear as he praised her for doing better than he did on his first try. That probably wasn't much of a compliment, but Sakura didn't look to embarrassed now. In time, she knew Sakura would come to respect Naruto. She was also sure Sakura would come into her own as a great ninja. She sat down and watched them for the rest of the hour as Naruto repeatedly encouraged and helped Sakura. She felt weird at the sight of them standing wet together by the stream and why in the hell did she feel like a matchmaker all of a sudden.

[…]

A week had passed, and Kotori was having a great day. Naruto and Sakura were both improving fast. Kakashi finally got her the paper she needed to test their chakra nature. To top it all off, she also had time to make a quick visit that she had been planning all week. She stopped before a door that had a chunin guarding it. She nodded at him before he opened the door and she walked in. The resident looked up from his bed and was surprised to see it wasn't the girl who usually visited him. Before her sat the boy that Chiharu had talked about, Haku. She grinned at him from beneath her mask and skipped over to his bed and sat beside him.

Haku looked at her in shock. This girl had barged into his room and had made herself comfortable on his bed. "Hiya" He jumped a little at her greeting. "So you're the "beautiful" boy I've been hearing my little Chiharu talk about." He looked at her in confusion. She had a funny way of talking and her mask didn't make him feel any more comfortable. "Names Kotori, and I just wanted to stop by here and see how you were doing." He stared at silently before he turned away and sighed. Why couldn't these people in the village let him die. First Chiharu and now her friend was coming to visit him to probably try and cheer him up. "Your just like they described." Her voice went from cheerful to serious. "You need to get over yourself." He looked up in shock. Gone was the relaxed girl and was replaced by a serious one. "Stop wallowing in pity for yourself or you'll never see the second chance you are literally being handed."

Haku felt anger for the first time in weeks. "What if I don't want a second chance. What if what I wanted was to die and be with Zabuza." She scoffed at him. "Then you're a fool." Haku gritted his teeth. "I am no fool… just a mere broken tool that was unable to protect his master." She looked at him in disbelief. "That's it. That's the big reason you want to die. Because you consider yourself a broken tool? Wow, Chiharu really knows how to pick them." Haku shook his head sadly. "You don't understand how it feels when you are unable to protect those precious to you." She shrugged at him. "No I don't and neither do I ever want to know. But to simply die because you think you are a broken tool is not very smart." His anger was gone and all that was left was a deep sadness. "It doesn't matter what you say. I am a broken tool that no one should want or need anymore."

Kotori grinned as she jumped from the bed and stood before him. "That's where your wrong! I know someone who has been trying very hard for the past few weeks to make you her little "tool", or as we say it, friend." Haku looked up at her in surprise. "And I know you know who I'm talking about. She is hardly missable with her rather distinguishing traits." Haku knew who she was talking about. She had visited him every day since he been put in here. He didn't understand why she went so far. "It doesn't matter, I could never be what she needs." She snorted at what he said before she looked him straight in the eyes. "Then don't be what she needs, but be what she wants." He looked at her in shock. "If she wants you to be her friend, then be her friend. If she wants you to be her protector, then be her protector. If later on in her life she wants you to be more, well… then be more."

She sighed as she stepped away from the stunned boy. "Let her fix you and I promise you'll never regret it. Just…" She skipped to the door and turned towards him with a sneaky look. "Don't make me a godmother any time soon." Her laughter echoed through the hallways as she left a blushing Haku.

[…]

The next three weeks flew by as Naruto and Sakura trained with Kotori. They had found out that Naruto was a wind type while Sakura was surprising a water type. She taught Naruto a D and C rank wind jutsu while she only taught Sakura a D-rank Jutsu. She told them this was because she was still considered a academic student and it was frowned upon for them to know higher technique before they were ready. She stressed to Naruto that he should keep his new jutsus quiet so he could surprise everyone on his team and his enemies.

Their taijutsu training took three weeks before Naruto could fully do the academic style right. From their they spent the last week increasing his speed and strength as he spared with Kotori. Sakura was slightly better as she perfected in two weeks and had stamina training for the final two. There chakra control had taken a much higher leap then she excepted. They had mastered the water walking in the first week and she had moved them on to leaf concentration exercise. It was an exercise where they kept leaves stuck to certain parts of their body while they fought. Naruto could only hold a leaf to his forehead while he fought. Sakura could hold one to her forehead, and both elbows. Kotori had said that it was due to Naruto's huge chakra reserves that was making his training slower.

Sakura and Naruto's teamwork had gotten along much better as well. They could actually talk without Sakura trying to hold back her urge to hit him. Although there was no romantic turn in their relationship, Naruto had kept his hope alive. Finally the last day of training arrived, Naruto and Sakura were standing across from a proud Kotori. "You guys did awesome, but today is the last day I can train with you guys." Naruto looked disappointed. "Why can't we train with you any more." She laughed "It's not that I don't want to train with you guys anymore, in fact I find it quite fun to go against your endless shadow clones. However, I have a mission to help with the chunin exam this year. So I can't train with you guys for awhile." Naruto and Sakura looked at her in confusion. "Chunin exams? What are those." She grinned at them "It's a secret! If you want to know, then ask Kakashi." She puffed away before Naruto could say anymore. "Damn it, why does she always have to do that. I should have asked her to teach me Shunshin instead!"

There was an awkward moment as both Naruto and Sakura stood there. "uh… want to get some ramen?" She rolled her eyes at him before she sighed. "It's always ramen with you." Naruto pouted at her. "But it's good!" Sakura couldn't stop herself from smiling at him. "Fine, but this isn't a date. We are going as just friends." Naruto yelled in joy as he begin to tug her towards his favorite ramen stand. Sakura let herself be dragged behind him as she sighed. _When did I become friends with Naruto?_

[…]

"What!" Naruto looked in shock at Kakashi as he was handed the registration paper for the chunin exams. "Like I said these are you applications for entering the chunin exams." Kakashi was unprepared for Naruto jumping up and hugging him. "I love you Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi wobbled around as tried to pull Naruto off him. "Get off me!" Sasuke and Chiharu ignored as they both looked at their own paper. They could become a chunin if they passed this exam. For Sasuke, it meant one step closer to reaching his goal in life. To Chiharu, it would mean she was one step closer to establishing her own ninja clan.

They returned their attention to Kakashi as he finally got Naruto off him. "Turn this in at room 301 by 4pm if you want to enter. That is all." Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto couldn't stop himself from grinning. "Chunin exams! Of course we are going to enter!" Chiharu laughed as she walked beside him. "Of course, Naruto. With this we can get closer to our dreams!" Sasuke smirked as he thought of all the strong people he could fight there. "It will be interesting."

The next day, Team 7 found themselves standing in the back of a huge group of ninja stuck on the second floor. "Whats going on here?" whispered Chiharu to Sasuke. He grunted as he tried to look for an something that could tell him why everyone was on the wrong floor. It became apparent when he noticed that the doors to the stairs were locked shut. Whispers could be heard as other people tried to figure out why the door was locked.

Sasuke smirked as he figured out what was going on. "They are testing us." His teammates looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean testing us." asked Naruto. "Whoever did this is trying to see if we are even worthy of entering these exams. There must be some trick to this. A ninjutsu or genjutsu that is keeping the doors locked." He activated his sharigan and discreetly looked around the room. There was no genjutsu on the door or anywhere on the walls. He stopped when he saw a team leaning against the wall. "There is a team hiding behind a genjutsu against the wall over there." He nodded his head towards the group so his teammates could see them. "Are they the ones blocking our way?" asked Chiharu. Sasuke thought about it before he nodded. "Most likely." Naruto grinned "Then why don't we make them open the way for us."

They pushed through the crowd and walked over to the spot Sasuke had saw them. They looked around in surprise to see they were gone. "Sasuke, I thought you said they were hiding over here." whisper Naruto angrily. "I did dobe. They must have saw us coming and moved." He activated his Sharigan again and looked around the room. He caught sight of them near the entrance to the room. The girl in the group smiled at him and waved. His eye twitched. "There purposely evading us. Were going to have to outmaneuver them to catch them." Naruto had a determined look. "There is no way I'm going to fail here."

The next ten minutes were some of the most annoying minutes of team seven's life. No matter how they went at them. They just couldn't seem to catch the bastards. Naruto was so angry that he was getting ready to summon a dozens of shadow clones before they were finally caught. To their surprise, a boy with long brown hair and white robes seemed to quite easily catch a hold of one of them. "Ah, you caught me. Guess, my funs over!" Naruto and Chiharu stiffened as they recognized the voice.

Kotori and two other chunin were standing in front of the group moments later as each one was wearing a rather large grin. "Leave it to a Hyuga to ruin our fun. Isn't that right Neji." Said boy hned at her as he rejoined his teammates. A bunned hair girl and a freaky looking boy in green. "Ah, don't be that way... Anyways! Congratulation on capturing me. Now you can all actually get to the exams. It would be boring if none of you even made it to the first part, you know?" She smiled as she turned around and unlocked the door. She turned around and waved at everyone that was staring at her. "See you guys later!" Three puffs of smoke later and the chunin were no longer standing in the doorway. There was a silent moment of awkwardness before all the genin begin to slowly entered the doorway and head to the exam room.

Team seven hung back as they allowed the majority of the other teams to pass them. Chiharu looked slightly embarrassed for no reason. "I can't believe Tori did that!" Naruto laughed as he remembered the look on everyone's faces. "That was totally great. We so have to get Kotori to tell us how she came up with that." Sasuke merely hned as he tried to hide his annoyance at being led around by one of Naruto's friends. Their musing were interrupted when the Hyuga's teammate walked up to them.

"A most youthful welcome Chiharu." She looked over to see Lee standing there. "Lee! So Gai decided to let you enter this year!" Lee gave her Gai's signature pose. "Yes, Gai-sensei has acknowledge my youthful flames." Naruto and Sasuke watched their exchange with weird looks. How did this…thing know Chiharu anyways. "I look forward to having a most youthful match against your team in the future." Chiharu laughed. "I'm sure Sasuke and Naruto would love to fight with you." Not liking where this was going. Both of them grabbed her arms and pulled her towards the exam room. "Huh, w-wait guys, I wasn't done talking with Lee." She turned her head and gave Lee a apologetic smile. "Sorry Lee, but it seems my teammates are in a hurry." Lee only laughed as he too joined his team. "It is good to see that you team is so fired up for these exams. Their youthfulness is burning bright for all to see!" Their only response was to speed up as they tried and failed to put distance between them.

Two people were watching them as they practically ran into the exam room. "Ah, my rival Kakashi, you students are most energetic about entering these exams." Kakashi sweat dropped. "I don't think that was the reason they were running Gai." Gai wasn't listening as excitement clouded his mind. "I cannot wait to see which one of our teams will prove to be the stronger. Kakashi, we must show our own youthfulness too. I challenge you to another duel!" Kakashi looked up at him. "Did you say something?" Gai gritted his teeth. "Damn you Kakashi and your hip attitude." Kakashi ignored his rant as he began to walk away. "Oh, and Gai" Gai looked at him. "Did you forget that Chiharu is on my team?" He puffed away as Gai screamed in horror as he realized that he would have to choose between cheering for Lee or Chiharu.


	11. Forest of Death

**AN:** I have decided to skip the first exam because I really don't feel like writing down exactly the same thing that happened in the manga. The main reason for this is because I totally forget to give Naruto an ability that could actually change the way he passed. So instead of pulling a jutsu out of nowhere for a shitty reason. I'll just skip over that part and go to the Forest of Death. Though I'll try and make up for skipping the last exam by trying to make this one more interesting.

* * *

**Forest Of Death: Orochimaru Appears**

Team seven and the other contestants stood in front of training ground 44 or as Anko called it, Forest of Death. Naruto was still recovering from his embarrassing and somewhat awkward situation that involved blood, Anko, a women with a long tongue, and kunais. "Anyways! You have to sign this consent forms before you are allowed to enter the second part of the exams." She said with a happy smile. "There will be deaths and if you don't sign these, then it will be my responsibility." Teams looked at each other in unease at the way she seemed a little to happy about their probable deaths. "I'll tell you the rules as you hand them out and you can sign them afterwards." She handed them to Naruto before she began to explain the rules.

She held up a map of the area behind her. "There is a tower in the middle of this forest. Your job is to guard your guest and make it to the tower to pass the second exam. As for your guest." She smiled in amusement. "Well that's where it gets complicated for you. Half of you will be given a person to escort to the tower. The other half's mission is to try and steal the person you are escorting. Don't think you pass right away though. Once you steal that person, then you will become the escort and must make you way to the tower."

Mumbles could be heard as the teams talked among themselves. Naruto had a confused look on his face. "So that means only half of us will actually pass?" Anko smirked at the boy. "Maybe, maybe not. It all depends if all of the escorts make it to the tower. However, there is other ways to fail this exam." She held up a finger as she began to count them. "First, if you lose a teammate or they are killed. Second, if you in anyway harm the person being escorted. They won't fight, but they will at least try and make you work for it. And lastly, you can tell the person you are escorting if you give up. However, you still have to spend the rest of the five days in the forest."

"And how do we decide who is an escort or not." came Shikamaru's lazy voice. Anko smirked before a box appeared in her hands. "Simple, inside this box is papers with the numbers 1-44. Each team will pick one, and that will be your assigned gate that you will enter through. As for who will be escorts or not. You will find out once you reach your gate. This way those that are escorts will have time before they are attacked." Anko smiled. "Otherwise, you guys would die to fast for me to enjoy the show." The contestants gulped as they once again wondered if this lady was sane. "Oh, I almost forgot the most important detail. The people you will be escorting will rang from genin to jounin level." She chuckled as she saw their disbelieving face. "Don't worry, as I told you, they won't be fighting. Although, they can help you set up traps and may even help you form a plan. This is where luck comes in play for you guys. Will you get an inexperienced genin, a semi-experienced chunin, or will you get an experienced jounin." She giggled with some dark humor. "Oh, and I just happen to be one of those jounin you may escort." Teammates looked at each other in fear as they prayed to whatever god they believed to not get the psychotic snake women be their guest.

She handed the box of to an assistant and stepped back. "Now, once you sign your forms. Come up here and hand them to me. After that, you can choose a number and head towards your assigned gates." A few seconds of silence later, and the first team stepped forward to hand in their forms. "Ah, so the sand team is the first to accept. Heh, you guys must have bigger balls then the rest of these guys." Her statement caused other contestants to step forward and hand in their forms. Slowly everyone received a number and separated to head to their respective gates.

Chiharu looked at the number on the paper she held. "It looks like we are at gate 32." Naruto cheered as they headed towards their gate. "I hope we don't get stuck escorting someone! I rather being attacking then having to defend the entire time." Sasuke sighed at his comment. "Dobe, it would actually be better to be escorting someone. They would have to come to us for a fight and that would give us the advantage." Chiharu nodded before she added her own thoughts. "Or we could rush towards the tower. With our speed, we might be able to make it without anyone catching up to us." Sasuke nodded as Naruto begin to pout. "But I want to show off my new moves!" Chiharu giggled as Sasuke sighed at his teammates stupidity.

Minutes later, and they arrived at their gate. They looked around to see no one was there waiting for them. Chiharu sighed in disappointment as Naruto smiled in happiness. "Yes! We don't have to escort someone!" He felt a cold shiver go down his back as a familiar presence appeared behind him. "Ah, Sorry to burst you bubble gaki, but you're going to be escorting little old me." Team 7 all had one thought on their mind as Anko grinned at them from behind Naruto. …_Damn_

Near them at gate 43, the Suna team stood silently as they waited for the gates to open. Kankuro sighed as he leaned over to whisper in Temari's ear. "I wish we had gotten someone to escort. I don't know if Gaara will be able to control himself if we get into a fight to take the other teams guest." Temari nodded as she worriedly looked at the silent Gaara. "We should leave the enemy ninja to Gaara and focus on capturing the objective ourselves." Before Kankuro could respond, Gaara calmly looked to his left and spoke in a neutral tone. "Whose there?" They instantly tensed as they searched the area for whoever Gaara had sensed.

An amused chuckle was heard as a masked girl materialized to the left of Gaara. "Wow, color me impressed Panda-kun. Didn't think you could sense me so fast. You're a lot better then those other two." Kankuro and Temari looked in shock at the girl who had just called Gaara a panda. Did this weird girl wish to die a horrible death. "As for why I am here, I will be the person you will be escorting. Names Kotori, hope we get along well!" Gaara simply stared at her silently before he turned his attention back to the forest in front of him. Kotori pouted as she was ignored by the red hair boy in front of her. "Ah, your so cold. You shouldn't be so mean to the person who can make you pass." Gaara looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Quiet, I don't care if you fight or not. But I will kill you if you get in my way." Kankuro and Temari watched as the girl actually smiled at the death threat. "Panda-kun, you should really learn how to be more cuddly."

[…]

Chiharu looked worriedly at her two teammates as they jumped through the trees. Naruto looked freaked out while Sasuke looked like he was going to kill someone soon. Their current mood was all thanks to the smirking Anko that was situated in the middle of them. She seemed to enjoy freaking out Naruto at every chance she had and pissing of Sasuke by continuously pointing out flaws in all his plans. A loud grumble filled the air while Anko patted her stomach. "I'm hungry, you guys wouldn't happen to have any dangos on you?" Sasuke eye twitched at the absurd question. "Does it look like we would have dangos on us?" Anko pouted at the absents of her favorite food. "Then feed me something else." Chiharu quickly intervened when she saw Sasuke's hand twitched toward his kunai pouch. "Anko-san, can't you wait till we find a better area to camp before we eat?" She looked at Chiharu with a smirk. "Nope."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Fine, Naruto you set up the camp while Chiharu and I go hunt for food." Naruto didn't look happy at all. "You can't leave me here with the crazy exam lady!" Sasuke ignored his complaint as he jumped off into the forest to hunt. "Teme! Get back here!" Chiharu smiled at him in apology. "Sorry Naruto." Before she too disappeared into the forest after Sasuke. He looked after them in shock. They just left him alone with the craziest person he had ever met. He slowly turned around to see Anko grinning out him. "Well gaki, what you waiting for, make me a comfy camp sight."

He hastily set about making a makeshift camp to use. Anko watched him with amusement in her eyes. _It's always fun to mess with the newbies. _Naruto could feel her stare on him as he worked. He inwardly hoped she wasn't getting any ideas about torturing him or anything while they waited. His thoughts were interrupted when Sasuke walked into their camp. "Hey teme! What are you doing here? I thought you were suppose to be hunting with Chiharu?" Sasuke smiled at him. "I just thought that you would like to hunt instead of waiting with her." Warning alarms went off like crazy in Naruto' head. Whoever this was, it wasn't Sasuke. He was "never" nice to anyone, especially him.

Anko watched as the boy smiled at the imposter. _That boy isn't stupid, he knows that's an imposter._ Naruto walked up to Sasuke. "Thanks Sasuke, I knew you wouldn't leave me alone with that crazy lady." Naruto was still smiling as he planted his fist into the imposter's face. The fake skidded across the ground before coming to a stop. He got up holding his face where a large bruise was forming. "What the hell! Why did you punch me for Naruto!" Naruto smirked as shadow clones appeared around him. "Because, Sasuke is to much a bastard to be nice to anyone!" He and his clones charged as the imposter henged dropped to reveal a rain ninja with a rebreather. "So what if you saw through my henge. You'll still won't be able to beat me."

Kunai flew at Naruto as the rain nin dashed towards him. His clones deflected the attacks with their own kunais as Naruto ran to meet his opponent. Naruto easily dodged his enemies swings as he surprised his opponent with a sweeping kick. His eyes widened as he felt his feet get knocked out from under and was sent flying as Naruto followed up with a spinning kick. The rain nin righted himself in the air and landed on a branch as he clutched his chest. _He's fast, I barely even saw him attack._ He flipped out a kunai with an exploding tag and threw it out Naruto. _Time for a new strategy._ It exploded in mid air and covered the area in smoke. _Now to use the smoke as a co-_ His eyes widened when Naruto appeared beside him. Before he could react, Naruto's fist collided with his face and sent him plummeting as he smashed into the ground below.

Naruto and his clones surrounded him. "Heh, you'll have to do better then that to beat me!" Some of his past training flashed through his mind. A picture of Kotori smashing a knee into his gut at high speed made him flinch. _Yeah, this guy is definitely not anyone near as good as Tori._ A coughing laugh brought his attention to his opponent. "Your good, but don't think it's over yet. No one ever said I was alone." Naruto eyes widened as he felt a presence behind him. He turned to see another rain ninja coming out of the ground with a kunai in his hand. "Crap!" He jumped aside as he felt a kunai graze his cheek. Blood drip down his face as he watched the newcomer fully form out of the ground. "Damn, almost got him." His partner pushed himself off the ground. "It doesn't matter. Now that we're both here, he won't last much longer."

Naruto frowned at that. "Hey! You guys could never beat me in a million years. The future Hokage can't lose to guys like you!" The rain nin laughed at the absurdity of the comment. "Sorry, but looks like your not going to be Hokage anytime soon." The ninja flashed through some hand signs. **Mist Clone Technique,** Dozens of clones appeared in the area and obscured the view of the real ones. "Lets see how long you can last against my endless clones." Naruto smirked as he created dozens of shadow clones. "Your not the only one who can make a lot of clones!" His clones scattered as they attacked. He looked in surprise as he saw the enemies clones split or disappeared when hit. _Genjutsu? Damn it I hate genjutsu._ _Kotori always did say I was way to weak against it._

He felt one of his clones disappear as it was attacked by his hidden enemy. He looked around as he tried to think of a plan. _If only I could get close to them. Then I could use one of my jutsu on them._ A sudden inspirational idea hit him as he looked at the countless number of clones. _Kotori always said that I was better at winging it then planning as well. _The battle continued till one Naruto was left panting as he kneeled on the ground. "Heh, looks like the future Hokage isn't as good as he thought he was." Naruto gritted his teeth as he stood up. "Bastards come out and fight me like true ninja!" A kunai plunged into his back as the two rain nin phased out of the ground behind him. "Idiot, ninja never fight out in the open." Naruto stumbled before he turned and grinned at them. "You're the idiots! You fell for my trap!" The clone puffed from existence as one of the rain ninjas own clones turned into Naruto. They tried to phase back into the ground but were to late. Wind Release: **Kami Oroshi**, They were blown across the clearing as a powerful burst of wind that came from Naruto. A sickening crunch filled the air as the two rain nin collided with a tree before they slide to the ground and remained motionless.

Naruto turned around as he heard a clapping noise. Anko was sitting on a branch clapping as she grinned down at him. "I'm impressed gaki, didn't think you were good enough to take those two on." Naruto grinned up at her and stuck a victory pose. "Of course, I'm the great Uzumaki Naruto who will one day be Hokage." She didn't look to impressed by his pose or speech. "Gaki, where did you learn to fight like that anyways. You don't exactly look like you're a strong ninja with that orange jumpsuit on." Naruto frowned. _Why does everyone always say that about my clothes._ "I got this strong because I trained by my crazy friend Tori for entire month on taijutsu. Every time I messed up, she would make sure I felt it by pummeling me." He flinched as he remember many painful bruises he received from her.

Anko laughed as she heard her students nickname. "When you say Tori, are you really talking about Kotori, a girl with a purple mask and silver hair." Naruto had a confused look on his face as he nodded. "Hey, how do you know who she is." Anko smirked at him."Because gaki, I was her jounin-sensei. Looks like she took some of her my training methods for her own. I must be a great sensei!" She mentally patted herself on her back as Naruto looked at the women like she was crazy. Before he could respond on her crazy methods, Chiharu and Sasuke appeared inside the clearing while carrying another rain ninja.

"Naruto!" Chiharu ran over to him as Sasuke looked appraisingly at the two unconscious rain ninja Naruto had beaten. "Are you okay Naruto!" He grinned at her. "Of course I am Chiharu. You should have seen me, I beat those two guys easily!" Anko snorted as she jumped down to land beside them. "Those guys were weak. Don't get too excited about beating them." Naruto frowned at her. "Hey, don't try and make my victory look cheap." Anko smirked at him. "I'm sure Tori would say the same thing as me." Naruto fumed as Chiharu looked at Anko in surprise. "You know Tori?" Naruto answered for her. "She was her sensei when Tori was a genin. Thanks to that, I was trained Anko style because of her!" Chiharu didn't really know what Anko style meant but nodded anyways to make Naruto happy.

"Hey dobe." Naruto looked over to Sasuke. "What?" Sasuke looked at the rain ninja. "How did you know they were here." Naruto grinned. "Because one of them tried to sneak in by henging into you teme. Of course, I wasn't fooled by his act. After all, he acted to much like a good person when the real Sasuke is nothing but a teme." Sasuke eye twitched as Anko chuckled at the blondes reasoning. "Gaki, I like the way you think." Her good mood disappeared as she felt two more ninja's hiding in the forest around them. _Damn, these kids must be unlucky to get attacked twice in a row._ She pretended to not notice as she watched Naruto and Sasuke argue.

A creepy laugh ended their argument as team 7 and Anko looked up in surprise. Three grass nin were standing on a branch looking down at them. "Oh, looks like we found our prey." Anko looked up at the grass nin in the middle with shock. She hadn't sensed her at all. Whoever this was, they were definitely not genin level. The grass nin sighed before she looked over to Anko. "I had planned to enter the exam and leave a gift for any promising genin I found. But it seems that when I finally found one, that I would have to run into an old student of mine." Team seven looked at each other in confusion while Anko eyes widened in shock and fear. _It can't be, why would he even be here._ The women grin grew as she noticed the recognition on Anko's face. "It's been a long time…Anko."

Anko stepped in front of team seven. "Gaki, you and your team should run. These guys aren't here for the exams…right, Orochimaru?" Orochimaru chuckled at his former pupil. "Anko, I know it has been some time since we met, but I'm not here for you." He turned to his two followers. "Please entertain Anko while I deal with the kids." His two lackeys nodded before each one attacked Anko. She gritted her teeth as she dodged their attacks as she was separated from team seven. "Orochimaru-sama has more important matters to deal with then some useless past apprentice." Said one the nins. Anko smirked as she pulled out a kunai. "Looks like I'll have to get rid of you guys before I deal with Orochimaru."

Orochimaru looked back at team seven before he smiled. "Now that she is out of the way. We can battle…" His face twisted into a bloodthirsty smirk. "With our lives on the line." Naruto, Sasuke, and Chiharu eyes widened as they felt overwhelming killing intent flow from him. Chiharu felt her entire body shake as she tried to form words. "N-naruto, S-sasuke, w-we h-have to r-run. W-we c-can't b-beat this p-person." Sasuke didn't say anything as he fought not to fall to his knees and throw up. Naruto looked at her in shock, did she just say that they should run away. He felt his own body shaking from fear as he turned back to look at Orochimaru. He gritted his teeth before he punched himself.

Chiharu looked at him in shock. "Naruto what are you doing?" He grinned as he felt his body stop shaking. "We can't run away from this fight! Chiharu, Sasuke, you guys can feel how powerful he is. We would never be able to outrun him." Orochimaru chuckled at him. "Naruto-kun… you are exactly right." Naruto looked at Sasuke and Chiharu before he grinned at them. "Let's kick his ass!" Chiharu smiled at him while Sasuke snorted at the blondes usual antics. Both of them weren't shaking from fear anymore. Orochimaru noticed the change in the team. His tongue whipped out as he licked his lips in excitement. He pushed up his sleeve and whipped blood along his tattoos. **Summoning Technique**, a giant snake appeared underneath him. "Prey should always try their best to survive." The snake charged forward as team seven scattered to doge it's attack. "In the presence of a predator!"

[…]

Kankuro and Temari were close to having a breakdown. This girl they were escorting was crazy. She looked like she actually wanted to die. She had been bugging Gaara almost the entire time they had been in the forest of death. Even after Gaara had brutally slaughtered the rain team they had bumped into. She still bothered him and called him "Panda-kun". So they decided to remain a good distance away from Gaara and her.

Ahead of them, Kotori was jumping beside a quiet Gaara who wasn't given off how annoyed he was by this girl following him. "Panda-kun?" Gaara felt his eye twitch but didn't acknowledge the girl. "What's it like being able to control sand like that?" Gaara was actually surprised by the question. Their was no question on why he killed the other team, why he didn't spare them, no accusation of him being a monster, but a simple question on his sand. He gave a quiet hn before he went back to ignoring her. "Ahh, come on, it can't be that hard to speak." He felt his sand begin to churn as images of killing the girl begin to fill his mind. "Quiet…" To his surprise, there was no response like he thought there would be. He slightly turned his head to see that Kotori was no longer following him. In fact, she had stopped dead and was looking off into the forest with a serious expression.

Kankuro and Temari landed beside him and nervously looked at him. He could tell that they thought he would snap and kill her any moment. They always looked at him like that and they wondered why he never thought of them as siblings. He ignored them as he too focused towards the direction the girl was looking. He didn't sense anything and turned towards the girl to tell her to keep moving. Instead, his eyes widen slightly in surprise as he saw her blur into movement towards the direction she was looking at. He felt his irritation increase as he was forced to follow her. He was going to kill her if she ran off for no reason.

Kotori ignored the sand team that was following her as she kept her senses focused towards the area in front of her. Something was terribly wrong was happening in this direction. She had felt it for only a moment, but she had sensed Anko's chakra signature. The only reason it would be so high was if she was in battle. If someone was attacking her, then they were definitely not here for the exams. She entered a clearing to see Anko in battle with a grass nin as his partner laid dead off in the distance. Behind her Gaara landed on a branch with his attention off in the distance as he felt Orochimaru's presence. His sand moved in excitement as he felt his blood lust rise. There was a strong opponent nearby.

Kotori eyes flashed red as her sharingan spun into existence. Whoever was attacking her sensei was going to die. She hid her presence as she watched the fight below. Anko's opponent was definitely high-chunin maybe even low-jounin level. Her sensei should have been able to easily handle him but she looked distracted as she kept glancing off in the same direction. She noticed that Gaara had left her side and was headed in the direction Anko was looking. _I find out what happening after I finish this fight._ She followed the enemies moves with her sharingan. Moments later, and the ninja laid dead at her feet with a kunai sticking out of the back of his head. Anko smirked at her student. "You just had to come and take the best part."

As Kotori was filled in on what was happening. Gaara stood before a ninja whose bloodlust could easily match his own. He ignored the team that was looking at him in shock and gratitude. He wasn't here to save them but to kill this person who made his mother sing for blood. Team seven had seen better days as they knet together as blood flowed from wounds they had received. "Hey, who the heck is that." Said Naruto as he watched the new kid stare at Orochimaru. Chiharu shook her head. "I don't know, but we have to warn him about that man." Sasuke took one look at Gaara and felt the red hairs blood lust. "Don't bother, he is the same as that man. They are both monsters."

Orochimaru looked at Gaara with an irritated face. Just when things were getting good, the sand brat had to get in his way. The boy still had a role to play in his invasion. He couldn't kill him yet. He dodged as sand shot of the gourd and tried to wrap him up. He chuckled as the sand followed him. " I don't have time to deal with you child." He summoned a snake to distract Gaara as he headed towards his real objective. _Best to mark the boy now and leave._ He was cut off when he jumped back to dodge kunais and shurikens. Anko and Kotori appeared between him and team seven. He smirked as he saw them prepare to attack him. "Anko, looks like you killed my men faster than I thought you would." Anko gave him a icy smile. "Now all that's left is to kill you."

He laughed as he dodged their attacks. They came at him together and tried to use their attacks to cause an opening for the other. He smirked as he dodged a fireball that was sent at him by Kotori. They still were not good enough to face him. An unearthly shriek interrupted their fight as his snake was crushed into paste by Gaara's sand. _Seems that my time is almost up._ He now find himself dodging three opponents. He summoned a blast of wind that sent them flying back. He appeared behind a stunned Sasuke and prepared to place his mark on him.

He pulled back his head to dodge the kunai that would have imbedded itself into his head. Kotori appeared beside him as he jumped to dodged her sweeping kick. In midair, he felt something wrap around his arm and looked to see Anko's snakes. He smirked as he felt himself be thrown towards a tree. He right himself and cut of the snakes head as he landed lightly on the tree. His eyes widened in surprise when Kotori landed beside him. It wasn't the movement itself that surprised him, but what he saw her eyes held. The sharingan stared back at him as he felt a rather powerful genjutsu hit him. He felt imaginary wounds open up all over his body as blood sprayed everywhere. An unearthly scream vibrated through his head as he felt his body dieing.

He stumbled before he broke the gentutsu. His eyes widened when he felt sand wrap around his body. Gaara was looking up at him with a blood thirsty smile. Gaara closed his fist as the sand crushed Orochimaru. Silenced filled the air as everyone looked at the sand that held Orochimaru. Kotori landed beside Anko. "Did…did we do it?" Anko stiffened as she heard Orochimaru laughter surround them. "That was most interesting indeed. It seems Sarutobi has hidden a rather interesting secret from me." They looked around to see if they could spot him. Orochimaru watched from a distance as he stared at Kotori. _A most interesting secret indeed._ He chuckled before he begin to phase out of sight. "Make sure not end the chunin exams early. Their will be consequences if you end my fun so early in the game."

Everyone stayed alert as they tried to sense if he was still there. Anko was the first to relax. "He's gone." Kotori looked at her in concern. "Are you sure? He may be hiding to wait until we let our guard down." Anko gave her a weak smile. "Don't worry I would know if that bastard was near us." Kotori slowly relaxed before she headed over to Naruto and Chiharu. "You guys okay?" Chiharu nodded as Naruto looked angry. "Damn that snake bastard, next time I see him." He punched the air. "I'm going to smash his face in." Kotori laughed as she saw that Naruto was still his normal self. Movement behind her brought her attention to Gaara as he stood silently with his sand moving around him.

She nervously chuckled as she turned to Anko. "I think it would be best if you get these guys out of here. Panda-kun here is a little too psycho right now to be around." Anko arched a brow at Kotori. "Panda-kun? Why do you always make up names for people." Kotori smiled at her as she shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it's just something I do to annoy people." Anko laughed before she walked over to Naruto and the others. "Okay gakis, you still have the exam to do. Get your asses moving before I fail you guys." She didn't tell anyone but she worried about what Orochimaru had planned. _I have to get this guys to hurry so I can inform the Hokage._

[…]

Kotori and her group had made it the tower on the first day. Gaara hadn't even let her rest from her fight and pretty much promised to crush her if she stop to rest. She wasn't really scared by his threats but continued to move along at his pace. She didn't want to have another run in with that snake guy.

The next day, Anko and her teamed showed up much to Kotori relief. Anko had immediately disappeared to inform the Hokage about Orochimaru and had left her team to wonder the tower. Later that day, Naruto had made a surprise visit to Kotori as she sat in a lounge that was for examiner only. "Naruto what are you doing in here? Exam takers are not allowed in this area." Naruto grinned. " I snuck in cause I need to ask you something Tori." She arched a brow at him. "And what is so important that you risk disqualification for?" Naruto face turned serious. "Is there anything you can teach me before the third exam starts?"

She looked at him in surprise. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't help you. I have to be impartial to all examinees." Naruto face fell as he nodded. "Should have known. Sorry that I snuck in and bothered you." She inwardly groaned as Naruto begin to walk away with a kicked puppy aura. "Naruto!" He looked back at her in surprise. "I can't train you but I'll give you a hint. You know that E-rank jutsu you can't use. You know the one that fails because of your high chakra reserves." Naruto nodded as he remember his failed attempts. "Well, you might be able to do it if you drain you reserve enough to where you won't overpower the technique." Naruto looked at her in confusion before he seemed to understand what she said. "Thanks Kotori!" She watched as he ran off in excitement to try and see if her plan would work. "If he can get that jutsu down. Then he would actually be a force to be reckoned with for anyone below chunin level." She smirked as she imagined what the final round would be like with the teams that had passed so far. _This is going to be a fun exam._

* * *

_Wind Release: **Kami Oroshi** (D-rank) - Jutsu that used no hand signs as a vortex of wind is sent from the users hands. (This jutsu was in Naruto Shippuden the Movie)  
_


	12. Prelims

**An:** After thinking hard about this story, I have decided to continue it. It has been a couple of months since I updated due to my computer blowing up from the inside and losing the entire story I had written so far. However, I now have a brand new spanking computer that will enable me to try and get back on track with this story.

**Update Schedule:** I will try and load a new chapter every Friday or Saturday once a week.

* * *

**The Prelim Show**

"I'm so bored!" Whined Kotori as she lay sprawled out on the couch of the security room. She watched lazily on one security screen as the Hokage was just now addressing the candidates who had passed the second exam. She sighed as she turned to random security personal 1. "Do we have to watch this channel? Can't we do something else while the Hokage lectures everyone in there?" Random 1 turned to her with a frown on his face. "No, our job is to make sure that no one plans to hurt our Hokage or use illegal tactics to win in their fights."

She snickered at his answer. "Really? I didn't know there was illegal ways to win a fight between ninja's. I thought poison and all that stuff was what we Ninja use in our fights." Random 1's face twitched at her answer before he turned back to his screen. "True, but we make sure that the contestants don't use any of that before a battle starts." Random 2 decided to poke her head into the conversation at that moment. "He's right you know. We've had problems before in these exams and our leader expects us to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Kotori sighed as she righted herself into a sitting position. "Fine, take all the fun away from this day." She stood up and began to walk for the door. "As for me, I'm going to go find something fun to do." She ignored their shouts for her to come back as she walked down the hall with a bored look on her face. "Mmmm, if there was something fun to do, what would it be?" Her eyes lazily studied the rooms as she passed them before focusing on one. She grinned as she saw an interesting group of Jonin, chunin and even some genin that had helped with the second exams. They were sitting in the break room talking to each other as they watched the prelims on the only TV in the room. "BINGO!"

[…]

Minutes later, Kotori sat on a stool with a huge grin on her face as she was stared at with disbelieving eyes. "You want us to do what?" She looked at them with excitement as she answered the question… again. "We should so totally bet on whom would win their matches today." Her grin froze as she felt a familiar disapproving present appear behind her. "Kotori, what do you think you are doing?" She looked up with pleading eyes at her one of her former teachers from the academy. "Iruka, I just want to have some fun. I'm so bored!" Iruka's response was caught off as a voice agreed with her. "Doesn't sound like such a bad idea. Maybe we should liven this place up." The man turned to his friend beside him. "What do you think?" The man made a breathing sound with his nose before he grinned. "Sounds like fun to me."

Kotori felt tears come to her eyes as she jumped off her stool to hug them. "Izumo, Kotetsu, I knew I could count on your guys!" Her celebration was cut short as she felt Iruka grab the back of her vest in the middle of her jump and drag her back to the stool. "We shouldn't do this. The exams are meant for genins to experience the weight of a Chunin's responsibilities. We wouldn't set a good example with gambling on their fights." A man in dark glasses nodded his head in agreement. "I agree with Iruka, we are shinobi and shouldn't do such things as gambling on the ones we train."

Kotori pouted at the man. "Ebisu, you're always no fun. You should really learn to lighten up like Kakashi. Then maybe you could get some respect from Konohamaru or the ladies." She was rewarded with a bonk on the head from Iruka and a glare from Ebisu. She sighed before straightening up on the stool. "Fine, let's take a vote to see what everyone wants to do. Is that fine with you Iruka?" Iruka nodded before he turned to the room full of ninja. "Who here wants us to watch the games as we normally would and not gamble on the outcome of the genins fights?" Iruka, Ebisu, and most of the Jonin raised their hands.

Kotori snorted before she jumped from the stool and raised her hand high in the air. "Now, who here wants to do something fun besides staring at a screen for hours?" Izumo, Kotetsu, most of the chunin, and all the genin raised their hands along with hers. She turned to Iruka and smiled cheekily at from behind her mask. "Ha! Looks like I won." Iruka sighed before he went back to his seat. "Fine, but I'm not going to participate in this. Those of you who want to can, but you don't have to if don't want to."

Kotori jumped over to land beside the TV as a chalkboard appeared beside her. "Okay! Now that all that's taken care of, we can finally get down to the fun." She turned towards the chalkboard as letters appeared on top. "This wonderfully made chalkboard is just an illusion I made to keep score on who bets on whom. As you can read, the rules say that no one can bid higher than 150 ryo and no lower than 20 ryo. All the money will go into one pile and will be split up between the winners. Each person will receive their money back if they win and then extra from the rest that is split between them." She turned to the group and smirked. "That's it, simple enough is it not?" The group nodded as they turned to TV to see who was first to fight.

Kotori stood beside the board as she watched the first challengers were chosen. "Okay, looks like we got our first bet coming up. Looks like its Sasuke vs Yoroi. Now who here bets for Sasuke to win?" Every single hand rose up in the room. She sighed before a giant x appeared on the board. "Looks like we won't be betting on this fight since everyone bet on the same person." Everyone laughed before they sat down to watch Sasuke barely scrap by with a narrow win.

"Wow, that was a much closer fight then I expected it to be. Anyways the next fight is coming up." She turned to the screen to see the next combatants. "Next we got the ever fabulously dressed Shino vs broken arm Zaku. Now, who here bets on Shino will be the winner." Again all the hands rose up. "Awww, come on guys, it's no fun if you all bet the same all the time." They all shrugged as Iruka laughed. "You can't really expect them to bet on a person who has a broken arm as the winner." She turned to the TV and frowned as she watched Shino dominate the match. "I guess…. But you guys better vote differently in the next match up."

Her face broke into a smile as she saw the next match. "Yes! A match that I personally wanted to see has come up." She turned towards the group. "Now we have Ino vs Chiharu. Now, who here bets on the Yamanaka to win?" Over half the hands rose up as each person called out random bets. Kotori smiled as the bets appeared on her board with the gamblers name beside each amount. "Now who here bets for Chiharu to win?" "She raised her hand with a few others. "I'm going all the way with 150 ryo on my girl." The rest of the bets appeared on the board before everyone turned to the TV.

Seconds after the match started, the room exploded into cheers as each person cheered on their chosen fighter. Kotori voice floated over the others as she cheered on Chiharu. "Don't let that prissy princess beat you Chiharu. You better win and give sister Tori some money!" Iruka sweat dropped at her. "Kotori, I don't think that's how you're supposed to cheer on a friend." She ignored him as she went ballistic as Chiharu encased Ino in ice to win her match. "Fuck yeah, that's the way to win Chiharu." She turned away as she began to hand out the winnings to everyone. She chuckled as she saw that she had come away with a profit of 200 ryo. She quickly stashed her winnings as the next fighters were chosen.

"Alright guys, looks like it is another tossup. We got face paint Kankarou vs glasses Misumi. Now, who here votes for Misumi to win." Almost all the hands went up as bets were called out. "Wow, looks like you guys know something about him that I don't." _Or they could be voting on home village allegiance alone. Do they not know who that makeup kid is?_ She grinned as she continued on with the bet. "Now who here bets that Kankarou will win?" To her surprise only she and Izumo raised their hands. "Dang, the odds really seem stacked against us. All well, my bet is 80 ryo on him."

She smirked as she watched Misumi crush the one he thought was Kankarou as those who bet on him cheered. They cheered fell silent as the real Kankarou appeared from the bindings as his puppet crushed Misumi till he passed out. "Ahh, to bad looks like all the money goes to me and Izumo." She laughed as she split the winnings with Izumo and saw she had a profit of 823 ryo. The others grumbled a bit as they glared at her. "Hey, don't look at me like that. It's all your guys fault for betting on him just because he is a leaf shinobi." Many glares changed into sheepish looks at her truthful claim.

"Oh well, to the next fight." They turned to the screen as the next fighters were chosen. Kotori laughed as she saw the names appear. "Okay guys, we got the smart but lazy Shikamaru vs sound nin Kin. Now, who here bets on Kin to win?" No hands rose up as Kotori slapped her forehead in disbelief. "Are you guys serious? Fine, seems no bets will be put on this fight."

The fight ended in the lamest way as Shikamaru used his shadow binding justu to cause Kin to smack her head against the wall. "That was so lame Shikamaru. Why can't you win with a flashier move?" Those around here laughed as some agreed with her. Iruka shook his head at her attitude. "You know that there are different ways to win then brute strength." Kotori pouted as she watched the next opponents get picked. "I know, but it's always more fun when you get to see flashy moves." Iruka sighed. "You are never going to learn are you? That's exactly what you said when I had you in the academy."

Kotori laughed before she went back to business. "Looks like the next fight is quite one sided. We got Orange Loving Naruto vs Dog boy Kiba." The room's good mood went dark at the mention of Naruto's name. "Uh… okay… anyways, who here bets on Kiba winning?" All hands rose up as max bets were made all around. "Wow, well I'm betting 150 ryo on Naruto." She turned towards the board to see her name was the only one on Naruto's side. _Well, looks like I'm going to get nothing or a huge advance payday._

The fight started as Kiba used smoke bombs to his advantage to attack Naruto with his Fang over fang technique. Kotori smirked as Naruto later surprised Kiba by henging as his dog. She began to frown as she watched the fight drag on as those around her cheered for Kiba to beat Naruto. _Why the hell is he not finishing this already? I mean, he already had the chance to finish him twice already yet he seems to be holding back._ She gasped as she remembered her conversation with him earlier that week. She gritted her teeth in anger. _That fucking idiot is trying to waste his chakra to try out my theory._ Her hands tightened into fists as she grinned evilly. _I'm so going to make him pay if he makes me lose._

Her grinned disappeared as Naruto finally made his move. Kiba appeared behind a surprised Naruto and prepared to finish him. He hit him and sent him skidding across the floor to only stare in surprise as Naruto exploded into smoke. "Hell Yeah!" Kotori danced in place as she saw the dumbfounded faces on screen and off screen. "That idiot actually did it. He actually got the substitution jutsu to work." Kiba was blindsided as Naruto appeared beside him and sent him crashing into the wall with his **Kami Oroshi**. "And that's the game folks!" Yelled Kotori as she cackled as she looked at the large amount of cash she won. _Fuck yeah, made a 2,234 Ryo profit of that idiot."_

Feeling glares directed at her from the losers she turned around and hid the money behind her. "Okay, seeing as you guys are kind of made I won; I think I shouldn't be allowed to bet anymore." Her statement relieved some tension but some glares remained as she chuckled uneasily. Her attention turned to Iruka as he walked up to her with a thoughtful face. "How did Naruto find a way to use substitution? He doesn't have enough chakra control yet to control his large chakra enough to use it." She grinned at him. "Oh that's easy, I told him that he might be able to do it if he wasted enough of his chakra to not overload the jutsu." Iruka nodded at the idea. "That is a good way to get the jutsu to work, but he can't rely on that in a real fight. Wasting chakra like that could be very dangerous."

Kotori pouted as she looked at Iruka. "I know that, but you still have to give me some props for my idea. This is just to help him get the feel of what substitution feels like and should help him with mastering it fully. Can you imagine what Naruto could do with Shadow clones and substitution? He would be freaking awesome at dodging hits." Iruka laughed as he agreed with her. "Maybe this will help me not worry about Naruto so much." Their conversation was interrupted as Hitori was called to take bets for the next match.

She laughed as she quickly looked up the fighters before turning back to the group. "Okay guys, looks like it's a fight between two exact same styles. We got adorably shy Hinata vs number one rookie Neji. Now, who thinks Neji will win?" About two thirds of the group raised their hands. "Okay, now who thinks Hinata will win?" Only a few people raised their hands as the rest chose not to bet. "Okay, we got a bet going. Let's hope this fight turns out good."

The following beating that took place had silenced all gamblers. Kotori was literally shaking with rage as those around her were shocked by what had happened. She had half a mind to charge out of the room as Iruka had moments earlier when the match ended. The only thing that restrained her was the promise Naruto made that he would defeat Neji in the finals. _Naruto, you better be prepared for some insane training. I'm going to make you fucking own that asshole._ She moved away from her thoughts to hand out the winnings to those who won. Unlike the other times, they remained silent as they received their rewards due to how the much was one.

Kotori tried to brighten the mood as the next fighters were chosen. "Don't worry guys, I'm sure she'll be fine. But for now, we got two new fighters to bet on. Up next is the tomboy Tenten vs weird hair Temari. Now, who here thinks Tenten will win?" Half the room raised their hand. "Okay, now who here thinks Temari will win?" The other half raised their hands. "Ooooh, this is a first so far. The vote is entirely split down the middle. Let's see who wins."

The next fight was nearly bad as the previous one as Tenten was demolished. The final moments when Tenten landed on the fan caused many ninja to growl in anger at the treatment of one of their fellow ninja. Kotori sighed. _Things are only getting worse and worse instead of better. _She quickly handed out the prize money silently. She noticed that the group had shrunk considerably since Hinata's match. _Looks like a lot of people have gotten sick of these fights and left. About half of them are gone._

"Okay guys, only two matches remain. The end of the prelims is coming close." She turned towards the screen and couldn't stop the small gasp that escaped her. _Aww, fuck my life._ There in big letters were Lee vs Gaara. "Looks like the next fight is between Gai's number one student Lee vs Panda Man Gaara." She turned to them with a plastic smile hidden under her mask. "Who here thinks Lee will win?" Most of the hands rose as bets were called. "Okay, now who here thinks Gaara will win?" Two hands rose up that belonged to Izumo and Kotetsu. She looked at them as they both stared back at her. It seemed she wasn't the only one who knew how strong that boy was. "Okay, let's watch the next fight and see how it ends."

Stunned silence filled the room as the matched ended. Moments later, a low popping sound and column of smoked was heard as Kotori flew towards the hospital to check on Lee. _Damn it Lee, why did you have to go and open so many gates?_ She skidded to a stop before a door and nearly threw it off its hinges as she burst through it. She instantly zeroed in on a crying Chiharu and proceeded to wrap the girl into a tight hug. "T-tori, t-hey" she couldn't continue as she began to bawl as she hugged Kotori and cried into her chest.

Kotori gently combed Chiharu's hair with her hand as she looked up at Gai. "Is it that bad?" Gai sat quietly as tears ran down his eyes. "Lee… they said that he would never be able to be a ninja again." His hands tightened into fists as tears poured out of his eyes. "It's all my fault. I'm the one who told Lee it was alright to open his gates." Kotori looked at him sadly. "Gai… it isn't your fault. I watched his fight, I know Lee wanted to prove to everyone how much of a ninja he was." He didn't answer her as he continued to sit by his student as silent tears ran down his face. She looked down at Chiharu then back up to Gai. "It's neither of your guys' faults."

* * *

**AN:** The matches in the finals will be revealed in the next chapter. As for Naruto using the substitution jutsu, expect that to be seen a lot more in his fighting style. I always thought he would be an actual awesome fighter if he knew that combined with his Shadow clones.


	13. Secrets

**AN:** This was a freak in huge chapter for me. I had to put so much stuff into this chapter to set up the rest of the story. Sadly this also marks the nearing end of the first book of this series.

Final Matches:  
1st round Chiharu vs Temari  
2nd round Naruto vs Neji  
3rd round Shino vs Shikamaru  
4th round Kankuro vs Dosu  
5th round Sasuke vs Gaara

* * *

**Perverts, Training, and Secrets**

**Hatakes' House – First day of training month**

Kakashi reread the same line for the tenth time before he sighed and lowered his book. "Tori, why have you been glaring at me all morning?" Said girl's glare only intensified at his question. "Oh, I don't know… maybe because you ditched both Naruto and Chiharu to train Sasuke by himself." After her answer, Kaksahi looked sorrowfully at his book before putting it away do to the oncoming argument he felt was coming. "I didn't ditch them; I just made it where they would have other trainers. Ebisu will be a great teacher for Naruto and Chiharu will grow well under her sensei as well."

Kotori rolled her eyes at his answer. "Really? Ebisu won't teach Naruto anything he really needs. Plus, I already taught him the basics of taijustu, chakra control, and even ninjutsu. Hell, even Chiharu doesn't need basic training even. They both need to be taught Chunin level lessons now if they hope to get any better." Kakashi looked at her in surprise. "You've been training Naruto? I was wondering how he was getting better lately. But that still doesn't mean he is ready to be chunin." She scoffed at that statement. "But apparently Sasuke is ready to be chunin. Even though he did worse than Naruto in the prelims."

"Sasuke's position is different though. He has to face Gaara tomorrow and we both know he won't survive the way he is now."

"But that doesn't mean you have to totally blow off your other students! You can train them with Sasuke or at least get them better sensei's to train with. One's who will actually teach them instead of review them on stuff they already know."

Kakashi sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Kotori, I can't just switch senseis now. They won't take it too well that I decided they weren't suited to teach my students." Kotori crossed her arms and smirked. "Then I'll do it. I don't care what they think. Naruto and Chiharu need the right training to pass the chunin exams. They won't get it with their current sensei's."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "So you think you know better people to teach them than the one's I have chosen." She smirked as she pumped her fist in the air. "Hell yeah, Naruto needs someone who will push him to the limits of his speed, chakra control, and ninja tool accuracy. I mean Naruto has more stamina then most people I know but ranks lower than most people in everything else. Chiharu needs someone that can actually help her with her bloodline limit. She has taijutsu, stamina, and speed down due to her living with Gai."

He looked at her in surprise. "Seems you already planned out how they will train. The question is who will train them in the first place." She smirked before she pointed at herself. "I call dibs on Naruto since you won't do it. I can definitely help him with all the stuff I listed. Plus, I can give him an advantage against Sasuke by having him fight against an actual Sharigan." His widened in shock before they tightened into a stern look. "Kotori, you don't mean you are going to tell Naruto you secret."

"Yep, I'm telling Naruto about my Sharingan and clan. I don't care what you say. It's my secret and I can decide who to tell it to. I also plan on telling Chiharu and even Sasuke by the end of this month."

"What! Tori, you can't do that. You know how Sasuke would react if he found out there was another Uchiha that he wasn't told about." She gave him an unconcerned looked. "I'm more worried about how he will react if he finds out later by himself. At least this way, he may take it well enough for me to at least curve him from the dark path he has set himself on." Kakashi sighed before he nodded. "Fine, but just those three and no one else for now."

"One more thing, Kakashi." He looked at Kotori who had a serious look in her eyes. "I want you to switch with me on the last week of the month. I get to train Sasuke for that week and you train Naruto."

"Kotori, I can't do that. Sasuke needs all the time I can get with him to get ready for Gaara." She held up her hand to shush him. "Three weeks should be plenty to teach him what he needs to know. Just don't be lazy like you usually are and that should make up the time difference." She looked at him with a pleading look. "Please Kakashi, I really need to do this at least once. It was a mistake to keep my survival from Sasuke. I have to try and least fix some of the damage that was caused before it gets too late."

He looked at her pleading face before his shoulders slumped. "Fine, I'll let you train Sasuke for the last week. But you have to promise me that you won't let you revelation hurt his training." Koroti was dancing in place with a smile on her face. "Yes, don't worry Kakashi. I'll make sure that Sasuke can take on Panda boy." She stopped dancing and glared at him. "You better not be late for Naruto's training and take it seriously. Naruto needs all the help he can get." He quickly nodded as Kotori continued to glare at him. "Fine." Kotori squealed in delight before she crushed Kakashi in a bear hug before dashing out the door.

Kakashi sat their stunned before he realized something. Who was going to train Chiharu?

**Week 1 Begins**

Chiharu sighed as she walked towards the meeting with her new sensei. Why did Kakashi have to set her up with some person she didn't even know? He knew she wasn't good with strangers. She always ended up making a fool of herself or worse. Her mood only worsened as she arrived at the training ground and didn't see her new sensei waiting for her. Looks like she was stuck with another tardy sensei.

"Chiharu!"

She gasped in shock as Kotori swooped in and slung her over her shoulder like a bag of potatoes. "Come with me if you want to live!" Confusion spread through her at Kotori's statement. "W-what?" Kotori ingnroed her as she sprinted away from the training ground and down the road. "No time to explain! But I'm sure you are going to love what is about to happen."

Across the town, Haku was watering the plants he had acquired in his short time living in Konoha. He sighed as he looked around his small apartment. Not once in his life did he ever think he would live in a ninja village. Neither did he believe that Zabuza would die and leave him alone. Yet all of that happened to him in a few short weeks. His eyes traveled to a lone picture that sat along the fireplace of his house. Although not all that had happened was bad.

In it were him, team 7, and Kotori. His and Chiharu's face were covered in a blush as Kotori leaned on their shoulders with a mischievous glint in her eye. Beside them, Naruto was laughing as Sasuke held a small smirk on his face. Kakashi's eye was turned up in a smile as he too laughed at what was happening. He had met and befriended interesting people who he had come to care for. He paused in his thoughts as a distant sound alerted him.

"Haku!"

His face scrunched up in confusion as he tried to figure out why someone would be screaming his name while running. Confusion was replaced with shock as Kotori flew through his window screaming and holding a large bag. "Found you!"

**Week 1 - Unknown Training Ground**

"Um… Tori what are we doing here." Chiharu asked as she looked around in confusion. She had been carried to this large training ground that had a small lake nestled in the middle of it. Kotori shushed her as she bounced in place. "Hold on one sec, were waiting for someone else to get here. Ah! There's the beauty now!" Chiharu looked down the road to see another Kotori running at them with a large bag slung over her shoulder. "What's going on Tori?"

Kotori didn't answer as the other her dumped the contents of the bag in front of Chiharu. She gasped when she saw a dazed looking Haku tied up on the ground before her. "Tori! Why did you do this to Haku for?" Kotori smiled at her from behind the mask and patted her on the head. "Don't worry Chiharu, Haku here has been volunteered to be your teacher for the month." Both of them looked at her in shock. "What? You don't want to have Haku as your teacher?" Chiharu blushed as she pointed at Haku. "You can't just force him to be my teacher like that. What if he is too busy to teach me?" Kotori chuckled. "The only thing he has been doing is hiding in his apartment and watering flowers. He needs to get out more and spend more time with us. This is just the perfect thing for him to do until he is cleared to be a medic in the hospital."

Haku sighed before he looked up at her. "You could have just asked me to teach Chiharu. I know I'm the only one besides her who has ice jutsus." She ginned mischievously at him. "But where is the fun in that. I think my way is much more interesting." Haku looked at her in disbelief as Chiharu shook her head. "Tori… why do you have to be so embarssing?" Kotori laughed as she laid her arm around Chiharu's shoulders. "It's because I care about you my cute little Haru." Her eyes flickered to Haku. "And I care about Haku as well. Both of you need to get out more and be a little more social. I figured why not start with each other. I mean, you guys practically have the same bloodline and even act similar." A warm feeling settled in their chest as they listened to Kotori. "Who knows, maybe one day you guys will make me an aunt." And just like that, their warm feeling was replaced with embarrassment.

"Kotori!" squealed Chiharu in embarrassment as Haku gaped like a fish from where he sat. Laughter filled the air as Kotori saw their faces. "Oh kami, you guys faces are so funny! I was just joking around with you guys." Neither sad a word as they tried to not look at each other.

Their embarrassment was cut short as Kotori stopped laughing and motion for her clone to cut Haku free. "Chiharu, your opponent is that blond fan girl. She is the worst opponent you could go up against considering you rely heavily on taijutsu and close range ninjutsu." She motioned towards Haku as he stood. "That's where you come in Haku. I know you mastered at least some wind and water jutsus in your travels." Haku nodded at her statement. "Yes, Zabuza was adamant that I learned to use multiple Justus in battle."

"That's exactly why Haku is best to teach you. His style and jutsus should come easier to you than other. Plus, there aren't very many wind or water users here in Konoha. Haku is your best bet in even standing a chance against that girl." Chiharu looked at Haku before she nodded. "I understand, but I want Haku to choose to teach me. He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to."

Haku stood awkwardly as the two girls looked towards him for his answer. "… I do not wish for you to get hurt during your match. If you can benefit from me teaching you then I shall do it." Haku's face went red as Chiharu caught him with a surprise hug. "Thank you, Haku!" Snickers from Kotori made his face turn even redder. "That's great Haku. I knew you would do it. You could never say no to Chiharu. Especially when she hugging the life out of you like that." A surprised squeak emanated from Chiharu as she jumped away from him with a red face. "I-I'm s-sorry Haku. I-I didn't m-mean to hug you like that." He shook his head as he too blushed. "It's okay."

"Awww, as much as I want to sit here and embarrass you more, I have to go and find Naruto." Her good mood dropped a little as she got to the part she was dreading. "But before I do that, I need to tell you two something about me." She squirmed a little when they focused on her. "You know how Kakashi and Sasuke have the Sharigan." Confused looks appeared on their faces as the nodded slowly. "Well I have it too. But it's the same as Sasuke's. You know, the kind you were born with then given."

Haku was the first get it as understanding appeared on his face. "I see, then that means Sasuke isn't the last Uchiha after all." Chiharu looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean Sasuke isn't the last one." Kotori answered for him. "Well… he isn't the last because I'm an Uchiha too." Chiharu looked at her in shock. "Then why didn't you ever say anything?" She shrugged a little as she looked down. "I didn't know until I graduated the academy and by then it was too late. He had already grown up alone. But now I'm going to change that. It's going to be hard and might make me want to kill him. Still, I should at least try and give him a family he has been missing for years now." Chiharu looked at Haku as she tried to comprehend what her oldest friend was saying to her. "I… I don't know what to think."

Kotori scratched the back of her head before she turned away from them. "Take your time Chiharu. I'll always be there for you to talk to if you need me." She walked away from them as she prepared to look for Naruto. "Kotori…" She stopped at Haku's voice. "I may not have known you for long, but I can say this. No matter what your last name is… you will always be Tori to me." She cut back a sob at his words. "Thanks Haku…"

"Me too…" Kotori looked back in shock at Chiharu. "I… I don't know what to say yet… but just know, you will always be Tori to me." Tears begin to blur her vision as she looked away from them. "Gosh… could you guys be any more sappy."

**Week 1 Konoha**

Hours later, and Kotori was getting annoyed as she scoured the village to find Naruto. _Where the hell could he have gone? There isn't that many places Ebisu would take him to train._ She had searched all the training spots and was now searching along the edges of the village where teachers sometimes took students for more serious training. _Maybe Ebisu is actually teaching Naruto some good Jutsu._ She felt a flare of chakra off in the distance near a stream and shot towards the spot.

She came upon a scene to see a wet Naruto in boxers fighting his clones on the river. "I finally found you!" Her yell startled him and caused him to fall into the river with his clones. He came up sputtering as Kotori began to laugh. "Woops, sorry about that Naruto." Naruto grinned as he saw his friend and swam over to the shore. "Don't worry about it Tori! Ero-sennin has already caused me to fall in hundred times already." She looked at him in confusion before he heard a perverted chuckle. She turned to see Jiraiya peeking through some bushes.

Naruto begin to panic as he saw Kotori walk towards the unaware man. "Uh… please don't kill him Kotori. I really need him to train me for the exams." She ignored as she stood behind the old man. She reached forward and tapped him on the shoulder. Jiraiya turned around expecting to see Naruto and froze as he saw Kotori behind him. _Not good…I didn't expect a kunoichi to be here._ His eyes only widened more as he recognized the girl. _It can't be… is that Kakashi's sister._

Naruto was sweating bullets as he watched the two stare at each other. He jumped slightly when Kotori sprang into action and… hugged Jiraiya while squealing. He stared in shock at the sight. _… what?_

"Jiraiya! It's been too long since I last heard from you!" Jiraiya laughed as he hugged the girl back. "Ah, Tori you growing into quiet the beauty. Few more years and you'll be a beautiful woman." She snickered at his praise. "How can you even tell while I'm wearing a mask?" Jiraiya puffed up his chest proudly. "Because I'm the great toad sage Jiraiya!" She rolled her eyes at him. "That's you answer to everything."

While they were talking, Naruto had extracted himself from the river and was standing near them with a shocked look on his face. "What? Kotori you know ero-sennin." Kotori snickered at the nickname as she answered. "Of course I do. You know those books Kakashi always reads. Well meet the author." She gestured to Jiraiya who looked entirely too pleased with himself. "My brother has the complete collection all signed by Jiraiya himself. Hell Jiraiya even came to our house one day to give his biggest fan the first copy of his new book." Jiraiya nodded. "Kakashi was one of my first fans of the series before it took off. His loyalty was always something I could count on."

Naruto looked at them with horror. "Don't tell me you read those books to Tori." Kotori eyes shifted around as she answered. "Well… I'm too young to read those books… but I may have skimmed through some." Jiraiya laughed as Naruto hung his head while muttering about being surrounded by perverts.

Kotori eyes widened before she snapped her fingers. "Almost forgot why I was here." She turned to Naruto. "For the next three weeks, I'm going to be helping you train for the finals." Naruto looked up in excitement. "Really, does that mean I get trained by both you and ero-sennin." Kotori looked at Jiraiya as Naruto jumped around in excitement. "You're actually training someone?" Jiraiya smiled sheepishly as he watched his student jump around. "Yeah, what can I say? The little runt grew on me." Kotori laughed as she watched Naruto. "Yeah… he's hard to not like once you get to know him." Her eyes turned serious as she turned to Jiraiya. "Hey, Jiraiya… I got something I want to tell you and Naruto."

Jiraiya instantly knew what she was going to tell them. He wasn't a spy master for nothing and he was already one of the few who knew her secret already. Even though she herself did not know that. He turned to Naruto "Hey brat, get over here. Tori needs to tell us something." Naruto glared at him for calling him a brat but walked over to stand beside them. "What is it Kotori. Are you going to teach me a new jutsu?"

Kotori smiled at him before she shook her head. "No… I'm going to tell you something about me that most people don't know. It's kinda important, so please listen real carefully. Okay, Naruto?" Naruto nodded as he sat down beside Jiraiya. Kotori shifted nervously in front of them before she began. "Well, you know how everyone thinks me and Kakashi are siblings." Naruto nodded his head as confusion showed on his face. "Well… we're not actually related at all." He looked at her in shock. "What? But you guys look alike and both have silver hair."

Kotori reached up and fidgeted with some of her hair. "Yeah, I don't know how my hair is silver, but there is no actual blood relation at all between us." She grew more nervous as she prepared for the biggest surprise. "I'm still related to someone on your team. He just happens to be an anti-social ice pick that thinks he is better than everyone else." Naruto stared at her for several moments before it finally clicked. "You're related to Sasuke!" Kotori giggled nervously. "Yep, turns out he never was the last Uchiha."

Naruto face slowly changed into a sad expression before he plastered a fake smile on his face. "Well, that's great for Sasuke. He can finally have a family again. He won't be alone anymore." Kotori sighed as she saw through his mask. "Naruto… If I could, I would so have preferred being an Uzumaki than an Uchiha." He looked at her in shock. "Why, Sasuke family is a huge clan that everyone thinks is great."

She snorted at his comment. "Hell, they might have been great once, but Sasuke has been pretty good at destroying my respect for that clan." She sighed before she knelt down in front of Naruto. "Unlike him, your one of the brightest kids I know in this village. You're like a brother to me already while Sasuke is more like a distant family member you never talked about." She hugged him as she felt tears slide down her face. "And that's why I'm telling you before him. I rather you know before he does. I don't want you thinking I was hiding that secret because I didn't trust or care about you."

Naruto nodded silently as he returned her hug. "… Does Chiharu know?" Kotori chuckled. "I just told her earlier this morning. You should have seen her face. Oh, and Haku was there as well. It was like twice the fun." Naruto laughed as tears slide down his face. "I wish I was there to see their faces." Kotori nodded. "Yeah… you so totally missed out on the fun."

A low cough drew their attention to Jiraiya who had been watching the whole scene. Kotori looked at him in shock. "Oh, I'm sorry Jiraiya, this must be shocking to you to find out your biggest fans sister wasn't actually his sister." Jiraiya smirked. "Actually, I already knew." Both Naruto and her looked at him in shock. "What!"

"I'm the reason your hair is silver at the moment. The Hokage ordered me to place a seal on you that would create a genjutsu that would cover you hairs true color." Kotori idly messed with her hair at the revelation. "So you knew all along… who else knows besides you, kakashi, and the Hokage." Jiraiya grimaced. "The elders do as well." _Even if I wish they didn't._

Kotori and Naruto quietly thought of the new revelations they just had. Naruto's face slowly changed to one of determination laced with fear. "Kotori… I want to tell you something as well." Jiraiya looked at him in shock as he knew what the boy was going to say. _I only hope Kotori is strong enough to look past this revelation._

Kotori looked at him with a curious expression. "What do you need to tell me? It can't be more shocking than mine… right?" She chuckled weakly as she saw Jiraiya's and Naruto's faces. "Okay… now you guys got me kinda freaked out."

"Tori… you know that the 4th Hokage killed the nine tails 13 years ago." She nodded as she tried to figure out where he was going with this. "Well he actually didn't kill it, but sealed it away in a child 13 years ago." She looked at him in confusion before her face begin to change into shocked realization. "I'm that kid… surprise." Said Naruto weakly.

**Week 2**

Naruto sighed as he once again failed to summon a toad. Before him laid a large tadpole that had both its front and back lags with a tail sticking out behind it. At least he was close to actually getting a toad to come out.

"Naruto!" He looked up and smiled brightly as Kotori came into view. Things had changed considerable since he had told her his secret. Her reaction had surprised him when she had literally almost crushed him in a hug as she cursed the villagers for being idiots. Since then, he had found himself suddenly adopted as the younger brother of said girl.

"Hey, Tori-nee, is that ramen I smell." Although, he wasn't complaining since he finally had someone who treated him like family. "It sure is, think of it as a sorry for giving you those black eyes yesterday during our spare." He felt his mouth water as she handed the ramen to him. "Thanks Tori-nee, but you didn't have to. I told you to go serious on me or I wouldn't improve."

Kotori chuckled at his attitude towards training. "Only you would want someone stronger than you to beat you up as training." Naruto only smiled as he slurped up ramen. "So… how is your summoning training going?" Naruto's smile fell a little at the question. "Not good. I can almost summon a full toad but I just can't seem to get it right."

Kotori nodded but didn't comment on it. She had never had a summons before so couldn't help him with this training. "Oh well, at least your learned that new c-rank wind jutsu I taught you last week." Naruto nodded excitedly. "Yeah, that jutsu is way more awesome than the others so far. You got to teach me another one." Kotori smirked at him. "Oh, I'm going to teack you another jutsu, but it's going to be a fire type." Naruto looked at her in confusion. "But I'm a wind type... Won't that make it harder for me to learn it?" Her smirk only grew bigger at the question. "Yes, but this is a simple D-rank fire jutsu. You should be able to learn it in the two weeks you have left." Naruto face turned into a pout. "A D-rank… come on, why can't I learn another c-rank wind jutsu."

"Because, this jutsu will turn into a B-rank easily when you combine it with one of your wind jutsu's." Naruto eyes widen in excitement. "Really? What's the name of the jutsu." She chuckled at his excitement. "It's called (1)Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu. It normally can only be used with a conductor like a wire or something similar. However, we can substitute the conductor with your wind jutsu and create an even more devastating technique." Naruto grinned as he thought of a huge fire ball blowing Sasuke away. "Teach me it Tori-nee."

"Okay, but first." She pulled out a kunai that had wire attached to it. She threw the kunai into a nearby tree and pulled the wire tight. She turned towards Naruto and held out the wire. "First things first, you have to be able to use the technique the original way before you can change it… so get started." Naruto looked at her with horror before he grumbled as he grabbed the wire. She laughed at his face. "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll thank me when you use it to blow away your competition in the finals."

**Week 3**

Naruto's eye twitched as Kotori rolled on the ground laughing behind him. Near him, Jiraiya sported a smirk as well as they all looked at what Naruto's first summons was. "Yo, my names gamatatsu, got any snacks?" Jiraiya chuckled before he patted Naruto on the back. "Congratulations brat, you finally summoned a toad." Naruto glared at him as he tried to ignore the still laughing Kotori. "He isn't exactly what I wanted."

Kotori finally gained enough air to talk as she lay on the ground. "He wasn't exactly what I thought he be either but I still like him. He is good for laughs." Naruto gritted his teeth. "Shut up Tori-nee." She ignored his remark and giggled as the toad continued to ask for snacks. "I don't have any snacks!" yelled Naruto as he finally snapped. Gamatatsu seemed unaffected by his outburst. "Okay then, if there are no snacks then I'm leaving."

"Wait!" yelled Naruto as the toad disappeared in a small cloud of smoke. Peals of laughter behind him followed the toad's departure. "Stop laughing at me Tori!" Jiaraiya shook his head. _He won't be able to get much farther if he continues on like this. He has definitely improved in everything else, but he seems to be having trouble in only summoning. _An idea popped into his head but was quickly shot down as he looked at Kotori. There was no way in hell she would allow him to do what he thought off.

"Yo." Everyone looked in surprise to see Kakashi leaning casually against a tree. "I see you found a rather interesting sensei to train under Naruto."

"Kakashi-sensei, I thought you were training Sasuke. What are you doing here?" Kakashi lazily looked up from his book. "Well, I already taught Sasuke what I wanted and came here to tell Kotori that it is her turn to teach him." Naruto looked at her in shock. "You are going to teach Sasuke too." Kotori rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, I kinda wanted to get some time to tell him my secret too. When better then when he is pretty much trapped out there with me and unable to avoid me?"

Naruto anger subsided as he remembered her secret. "Oh… well just make sure you don't get infected by Sasuke's emo." Kotori laughed as she walked over to Kakashi. "I won't and you better make sure Kakashi doesn't be too lazy with your training. If he is, just tell me when I get back and I'll make sure he regrets it." Naruto nodded as he tried to not show how much he was dreading Sasuke finding out about Kotori. "Don't worry Naruto. He can never replace you nor do I want him to." Naruto looked at her in surprise before he laughed in embarrassment. She always seemed to know what he was thinking.

"As touching as this is, Sasuke won't appreciate being left alone on that rock for too long." Kotori nodded before Kakashi and her disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"Don't worry Naruto. I know Kotori, she won't abandon you for that Uchiha brat." Naruto gave a grateful smile to Jiraiya. "I Know, I'm more worried about how Sasuke will take it." Jiyaiya laughed as he remembered a conversation he had with Kotori earlier that week. "Hopefully he takes it well, because Kotori got an amazing plan to introduce herself to the village as Kotori Uchiha."

**Week 3 rocky area near Konoha**

"Sasuke should be on top of that column of rock over there." Kotori looked at the rock to see a pacing Sasuke. "Looks like he is already upset." Kakashi shrugged. "Sasuke has always hated it when his training time is put on hold." Kotori snorted before she turned to him. "Well it's going to be put on hold for a little longer." Kakashi looked at her with interest. "hmm? What is it you want?" She took a deep breath before answering. "I would like to know if I could sign the ninja dog contract that you possess."

Kakashi stared at for several moments before sighing. "I guess you could, but my nin dogs would be the ones who would have to agree to it." Kotori bounced in place as she looked at him hopefully. "So does that mean you'll give me a chance? Cause I so envy Naruto right now for having a summons." Kakashi pulled out a small scroll and handed to her. "This here contains a summoning for my nin dog pakkun. He'll be the one to decide whether you are appropriate to summon them or not."

Kotori took the scroll from kakashi and held it like it was gold. "Oh, thank you so much Kakashi. I swear I won't let you down. I'll be the best partner you could be for these guys." Kakash chuckled at her actions. "Don't thank me yet. We have yet to see if they will accept you or not." Kotori smiled weakly at him. "Don't ruin my good mood like that."

**Week 4 Rocky Terrain**

"I don't believe you. There's no way that you are a member of my clan." Sasuke stood rigid as he glared at the girl who dared say she was an Uchiha. Kotori glared right back at him. "Oh, then how do you explain this?" Her eyes flashed red as her Sharigan activated. Sasuke glare intensified at the site. "Simple, you just got them transplanted like Kakashi did."

"Of course, I somehow got a dead Uchiha person to give me "Both" of their eyes. That makes so much more sense than what I said." Sasuke eye twitched out the implied insult to his intelligence. "There is no way you could have survived. Itachi is too good to mess up and not kill everybody." Kotori raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? Because I count two Uchihas that he missed during his extermination of the clan."

Sasuke bristled at her words. "He left me alive while you should have been dead along with all the others." Kotori smirked at thim. "Exactly… he left you alive in his so called clan massacre. So wouldn't that mean that he could have mistaken left others alive as well?"

"And I told you, Itachi wouldn't make a mistake like that." Kotori rolled her eyes at him. "Then he did it on purpose or whatever. Since, I'm clearly still alive and talking to you at this moment. Hell, you can go ask the Hokage and he'll tell you I'm an Uchiha." Sasuke glare didn't let up as he stared silently at her in fury.

Kotori rolled her eyes. "Fine, be that way. I'll just rub it in your face when we get back to the village and you find out I'm telling the truth. I can't wait until the news spreads around that Sasuke can't even tell when he is talking to another Uchiha."

"You're not an Uchiha!" yelled Sasuke in anger. Kotori sighed. "Okay, this is just going in circles. If you can beat me in a spar at least once in this entire week, I'll never say a word about me being an Uchiha. I'll keep a secret until I die and you can be the last Uchiha forever or until you have children."

Sasuke looked at her with suspicion. "What happens if I am unable to defeat you?" She pointed at him and grinned. "Then you have to accept me as part of the Uchiha clan and call me Kotori-nee or Tori-nee. Plus you have to take part in the plan I have to showcase myself to the entire village." Sasuke thought about it before he shook his head. "I will not do something as stupid as that."

Kotori pouted before she got an idea. "Okay, how about this? If I lose I'll keep quiet and teach you all the jutsus I know. The current number I have is over one hundred at the moment." Sasuke's eyes lit up at the mention at the last part. "So if I win, you will never speak of your foolish belief that you are part of my clan and teach me all of the jutsu's you know." Kotori nodded. "Yep, but if you lose, you have to accept me as part of you clan and call me Kotori-nee or Tori-nee from then on."

Sasuke study her as he thought of his chances of winning. Kakashi training had greatly increased his strength, speed, and jutsu arsenal. Combined with his Sharingan, there was no possible way he could lose. He smirked before he nodded. "Fine, but I hope you're ready to lose to a true Uchiha."

She smirked as Sasuke's eyes turned red as his Sharingan activated as well. "We'll see about that, Otouto." Sasukes face twisted in rage at her words. "Don't call me that. You're not part of my family!" He charged her as the tomoes in his eyes spun wildly. Kotori smirked as she watched him with her own Sharigan. "For now, but I'll show you how much of an Uchiha I am. If I have to beat my status as an Uchiha into your brain, then prepare for some pain."

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**AN:** New stats for main Characters will be shown in next chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed this one.


	14. Finals

**New Rankings:**

**Naruto Uzumaki –Age ****13  
Official rank- Genin  
Special Skills- Frog Summons, Kyuubi**

**Ninjutsu: ****C+  
Taijutsu: ****C  
Genjustu: ****G  
Intelligence: ****C-  
Strength: ****C+  
Stamina:-****K  
Speed: ****C-  
Hand seals: ****C-  
Overall Rank: ****C**

**Chiharu Maito -Age ****13  
****Official rank- Genin  
Special Skills- Ice bloodline**

**Ninjutsu: ****C  
Taijutsu: C****+  
Genjustu: ****G+  
Intelligence: ****C  
Strength: ****C  
Stamina: ****C  
Speed: ****C+  
Hand seals: ****C  
Overall Rank: ****C**

**Sasuke Uchiha -Age 13****  
Official rank- Genin  
Special Skills- Sharigan**

**Ninjutsu: ****C+  
****Taijutsu: ****C  
****Genjustu:****C  
****Intelligence: ****C  
****Strength: ****C+  
****Stamina: ****C  
****Speed:****C  
****Hand seals: ****C  
****Overall Rank:****C**

**Kakashi Hatake -Age ****27  
Official rank- Jonin  
Special Skills- Sharigan, Dog summons**

**Ninjutsu: ****K  
****Taijutsu: ****A+  
****Genjustu:**** A  
****Intelligence: ****A+  
****Strength: A-****  
****Stamina:****A-  
****Speed: ****A+  
****Hand seals: ****K  
****Overall Rank:**** A+**

**Kotori Hatake -Age ****14  
Official rank- Chunin  
Special Skills- Sharigan, Dog Summons (pending)**

**Ninjutsu: ****J  
****Taijutsu: ****J-  
****Genjustu:****J+  
****Intelligence: ****J  
****Strength: ****C+  
****Stamina: ****J-  
****Speed: ****J  
****Hand seals: ****J-  
****Overall Rank:**** J****-**

**Look at bottom of page for list of jutsus each person has.**

**AN: There, now you can see their growth through the story. Naturally I tried to make it as realistic as possible on how strong they could get around a year. Naruto has the biggest change while Kakashi has the smallest. Which is natural since it gets harder and harder to make a difference in rank. Sasuke growth as a person will also be more eminent as he interacts with Kotori more.**

**Also, I've noticed other writers usually respond to reviews to show they are actually listening to their readers. If you guys like that, I could start responding to you guys. It doesn't really matter to me, but I just want you guys to know that I am reading your reviews. **

**However, I would like to receive more reviews like Nobodyinparticular's and I will respond to them as fast as I can. When he mentioned grammar mistakes, I went through and cleaned it out as fast as I could. I won't be angry and will gladly fix up the story so you guys can read it more enjoyably.**

* * *

**Finals**

**Day before final – Ichiraku Ramen**

Naruto happily stuffed his ramen down his throat as his two senseis for the week sat beside him. Jiraiya started to sweat as he saw more and more bowls pile up. "Brat, this better makes us even for my little stunt at that cliff two days ago." Naruto finished his bowl before he smirked at the white haired man. "Don't worry Ero-senin, this definitely makes us even. I got free ramen and showed that chief toad who was boss." He turned to Kakashi who was sitting while reading his favorite book. "You're forgiven to Kakashi-sensei. I won't tell Kotori about how you let Jiraiya throw me of a cliff." Kakashi coughed nervously as he eye smiled at him. "Yeah, I would like it if she didn't find out about that stunt we pulled. We're just lucky your chakra control is much better than before or you would still probably be in the hospital." Naruto belched and patted his stomach as he finished his meal. "Of course, Kotori training has made way stronger than before. I bet I'm as strong as Sasuke now!"

Kakashi nodded as he too saw how much the boy had grown. He would put his entire team at low-chunin to mid-chunin level at the moment. It was impressive for rookie genin like them to grow so fast, but Naruto had grown the most. He was still the weakest, but had closed the gap tremendously between the rookie of the years and him. No one in his class would probably stand a chance against him besides his own teammates.

"So when are we going back to training! I got to get stronger to beat that Huyga bastard." He focused back on his student at the sudden announcement. "Sorry Naruto, but no training today. You're going to take this day off and rest your body for the finals tomorrow." Naruto face looked at him in horror. "What!? But Sasuke and Chiharu are probably training like crazy right now." Kakashi and Jiraiya both chuckled before Jiraiya answered him with a smirk. "Chiharu is also resting today. I bet at this moment, that she is being carefully watched over by Haku and Gai so she doesn't get overexert herself before the finals." Kakashi nodded. "He is right Naruto, and Sasuke is also resting whether he likes it or not. I gave explicit instructions to both Haku and Kotori to make them rest today." Kakashi chuckled as he imagined Sasuke face when he was forbidden from training. _He probably took it a lot worse than Naruto has._

Naruto looked at his two senseis in shock before he sighed. "Fine, guess I'll just go see how Chiharu or Sakura are doing." Jiraiya patted Naurot on the back. "Don't worry brat, you're more than ready for the exams. I'll bet you'll demolish that kid and become Chunin in no time." Naruto brightened up a little at his words. "You right ero-sennin, I going to wipe the floor with him." He got up excitedly. "I'm going to go find Sakura and make sure she comes tomorrow to see me destroy Neji." He raced off to look for said pink haired girl and left his two sensies with a pile of empty bowls.

Jiraiya sighed as he looked at them. "I forgot how much ramen that kid eats. At least the bill will be split between us Kak-" He froze as he found said one eyed man missing from his seat. He heard a cough beside him as the owner's daughter, Ayame, held her hand out with a grin on her face. "Kakashi!"

**Gai's House**

Chiharu was blushing as Haku sat beside her on the couch. Across from them, was Gai crying as he shouted about how youthful the two had been all month. Her eyes kept shifting to Haku as the boy listened to his rambling. Haku surprised her by chuckling quietly as watched Gai explode into an even more youthful speech. His chuckle stunned both Gai and her as they stared at the boy in shock. Haku looked at them with concern on his face. "I'm sorry if I offended you by laughing, but this is the first time I have seen a father so open with his love for his daughter." Chiharu blushed even more as Gai face split into a blinding smile. "Aw, to see that such a youthful boy was training my Chiharu all this time."

Haku shook his head as he smiled softly. "It was nothing like that. Just that I haven't felt this kind of feelings for a long time. It is rather refreshing to once more be able to witness it." Chiharu looked at him with worry as Gai face melted to show understanding. "I know that you have witnessed things that children should never have seen. To be trained under a system that goes against everything you are." Haku looked at him in shock as Gai placed his hand on his shoulder. "But Haku, here in Konoha, everyone is family. We all look out for each other and care for one another as a family should. We protect one another, guide each other, and show them that they are never alone."

Chiharu nodded as she placed her hand over Haku's. "That's right Haku. You're now part of our Konoha family. If you feel sad, angry, or depressed, you can always share it with us." She blushed as she began to stammer. "A-and I-I'll always b-be there f-for y-you." Her face turned even redder. "You're p-precious t-to a-all my f-friends and m-e H-Haku. I-I'll a-always b-be there w-when y-you n-need m-e."

Haku looked at her in stunned silence before a gentle smile spread across his face. "Thank you, Gai, Chiharu. I'll make sure to remember that." Chiharu turned even redder as Haku turned the full power of his smile on her. "I'll always be grateful that you made me live that day. I hope that I can stay here with you forever." Chiharu made a small squealing sound before her eyes rolled back as she passed out beside Haku. Said boy looked at her in confusion before he turned to Gai. "What just happened?" Gai laughed as he youthfully pated the confused boy on the back. "Haku, I leave my little girl in your hands. Protect her and keep her close to you. For one day, you won't be able to live without her." Haku was even more confused as Chiharu's head rested on his shoulder. "huh?"

**Random Village near Konoha – Dango Stand**

Kotori happily munched away at her dango while ignoring the stares see was receiving from her "guest". Sasuke was tied to a chair beside Kotori as he witnessed something he never thought he would. Before him, was Kotori with her mask down to reveal her face while she ate. She sighed as he continued to stare at her silently before she turned to him. "What? Never seen a girls face before?" Sasuke glared at her. "Why are you showing me your face?" She shrugged as she went back to her dango. "Because your family now. You already have enough trust issues as it is. It's best to not make it worse by hiding my face from you." She grinned at him as she offered him some dango. "So get used to it and have some dango. I swear you'll like it."

Sasuke ignored her offer as he looked away. "I don't have trust issues; I simply don't see the need for bonds that would only weaken me." A stinging bop on the head was his reward for his answer. "Ow, what did you do that for?" Kotori only waved the dango stick at him with irritation on her face. "Didn't anything we talked about this last week stick in your head at all?" Sasuke frowned as he remembered his last week of training. "I remember all those "lessons" you gave me while you used me like a punching bag." She snickered. "Well, it was all your fault you know. You said that there was no way you could lose with your sharingan activated. I merely showed you that even if you can still the attack. It means nothing if you're too slow to react." Sasuke felt his eye twitch at the reminder. "It didn't help how you kept trying to convince me that I should give up my revenge and go be "friends" with everyone."

Kotori arched a brow at him. "Wow, your memory must really suck, or you have selective hearing. Whatever it is, I'll simply have to tell you again." Sasuke mouth twitched as he fought back a groan. He had found himself doing that a lot lately as he was trained by Kotori. "Now, don't look like that Sasuke. I'm just trying to help you understand that you won't get revenge the way you are living your life. I mean look at Naruto, he was the dead last of his class. Yet he can now keep up with you and Chiharu, the rookie of the years."

Once more the dango stick was pointed dangerously at him. "Do you remember why he has been able to catch up to you so quick?" Sasuke watched the pointed stick wearily as he answered. "Because he wants to "prove" himself to the village and "protect" his precious people." She frowned as he used sarcasm in his answer but chose to ignore it. "Correct, but you on the other hand only fight for yourself and refuse to see the reality of this world." Sasuke growled at the insult. "And what do you mean that I can't see reality?" Kotori eyes turned serious as the smile dropped from her face. "You're the weakest sharingan user alive at the moment. You don't even come close to comparing to Itachi. The only people in this village who could even stand against him would be Kakashi or the Hokage. I don't even come close to the same level as him and you lost to me horribly."

Sasuke face twisted in rage as he tried to break free of his bindings. "Maybe if you all of you would stop trying to change me and teach me jutsus to kill him. Then I wouldn't be as weak as I am now!" Kotori tilted her head as she looked at him. "Why should I train someone I don't trust enough to put my life in their hands?" Sasuke stopped as he looked at her in shock. "What..?" Kotori continued to stare at him. "Why should I train someone who looks at comrades, friends, and those who fight with him as useless? How do I know you won't kill us to save yourself, or sacrifice us to gain power like Itachi did?" Sasuke looked at her in disbelief. "I would never follow in Itachi's footsteps. I just need power to kill him. Why can't you guys understand that?"

Kotori sighed as she turned away from him. "Oh, I understand why you want to kill him. It's just that you are going about it the wrong way. Tell me, did Itachi or any Uchiha ever believe in bonds and trust between shinobis?" Sasuke struggles died down as a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "…Father always said that a shinobi should be strong and Itachi was the ideal Ninja in that way for father." Kotori nodded. "And look where only having strength with no trust led to. An all but extinct clan and a S-class nuke-ninja on the loose." Sasuke face formed into a stubborn look. "Even if that is true, I still need power to defeat him. Even if others trust me, how will that make me any stronger?" Kotori finally turned back to him as she pulled out a kunai. "Like this…" She sliced through the rope holding sasuke to the chair. He looked at her in shock as she turned back to her plate of dango.

He sat stunned as the seconds turned into minutes as Kotori said nothing. _What is she trying to pull? _He stood up as he looked at the door. "I don't know what you are trying to tell me but I got training to do. If you won't help me, then I do it alone." Kotori said nothing as he began to walk away. A few step later and Sasuke stopped at the entrance to look back at Kotori. She still hadn't moved or even turned to look at him. Frustration built up as he tried to figure out what she was doing. _How is this supposed to teach me about trust? All she is doing is letting me leave after she held me here so I couldn't train._ He warily watched her for a few more seconds before he exited the building. Every step he took made his irritation skyrocket. _What the fuck is she thinking?_ _It's like she trust that I would actually believe she was right._ He stopped walking as literally smacked his forehead in realization. _She wants me to trust her and not train at all!_

He snorted at the thought. Why would he trust her? All that would do is make him weaken because of the missed chance at training. Even though he had those thoughts, he found his body was still frozen in place. He couldn't really be considering following her advice. _Although, she was another Uchiha._ His eyes widened as the stray thought passed through his mind. When did he start thinking of her as an Uchiha? Irritation and curiosity battled as he turned back to the dango stand. He sighed as he began to walk back to the stand. _I'm only returning to see if she actually believed I would return. If she does nothing to help me after this, then I will leave and go back to training._

He silently walked into the stand and sat beside Kotori. He tried to look as uninterested as possible as he stared straight ahead. A few sniffling sounds finally made him turn his head slightly to see where the sound was coming from. He was caught off guide to see Kotori looking at him with tears in her eyes. "Why… are you crying?" Kotori lunged forward as she engulfed him in a hug. "Oh, I'm so proud of you little brother. You finally believed you big sister enough to trust what she says." He struggled to break free of her hug but found she had securely latched on. "Get off me!" Kotori ignored him as she only tightened her hug. "Now I don't have to worry about leaving you here to miss the exams and being the only one to do my grand revealing. It will be so much better than me being by myself." Sasuke stopped struggling as the first part of the sentence clicked with his brain. "What did you say about leaving me here to miss the exams?" kotori stopped crying as a nervous chuckle escaped her. "Silly brother, you must be hearing things."

**Day of Finals – Stadium**

All the contestants minus Dosu and Sasuke stood in the middle of the stadium filled with roaring fans. Naruto looked around before turning to Chiharu. "Where the hell is Sasuke?" Chiharu shrugged. "I don't know Naruto, but hopefully he will return in time for his match." Naruto didn't look happy but nodded. "He better make it here in time so I can kick his ass in the finals." They were interrupted from their conversation as the Hokage got up to address the stadium. "Welcome to the chunin exams. Today we will see the eight contestants who passed the preliminaries fight to become chunin. Please enjoy the matchs."

Genma pulled out a scroll after the Hokage's speech and showed the contestants a new tournament bracket. "There have been new changes to the matchups today. Make sure to take a good look out them before the finals begin." They looked to the only change was that Kankuro had been put aside to fight the winner of Sasuke and Gaara. Naruto looked at the changeup before he looked at Genma. "What about Sasuke? What happens if he doesn't show up?" Genma chewed his senbon before answering. "Then he will be disqualified. Now everyone besides Chiharu and Temari go to the waiting area. It's time to start the finals."

As the contestants cleared the area, Kakashi and Gai stood near the back wall. Gai turned to Kakashi. "So, where is Sasuke at? I don't see him down there and yet you are here. Don't tell me he has adopted your habit of being late." Kakashi looked boredly down at the arena as he watched Chiharu prepare for her match. "I have no idea what habits you're talking about, but I'm sure that Kotori is to blame for him being late. Jiraiya seemed to know that she has had something planned for the finals. Something he said would shock all those who will attend." Gai looked a little pale. "I remember what happened last time she had something planned like that. A good many buildings were destroyed and Lee was forbidden from ever accepting any drinks from her again." Kakashi sweat dropped as he too remembered the prank. "Let's just hope it's nothing as destructive as it was last time."

Their conversation was put to an end as Genma called out the beginning of the first match. "The first round of the finals will be between Chiharu of the leaf and Temari of the sand. Are the contestants ready?" Temari smirked and nodded as Chiharu let a quite yes as she took up her stance. "Begin!" He jumped away as he started the match.

Chiharu was the first to move as she blurred away to appear beside the only available pool of water in the arena. Temari smirked as she saw her move. "What a rookie mistake, now I know you can only do water jutsus. You'll have to stay near that pool to add any power to your jutsus." She lifted up her fan and opened it partway to show one star. "As for me, I don't have any such handicaps." Chiharu didn't respond as she stood on the water's surface. "**Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique" **Mist poured out of the water as it began to cover the arena floor.

In the stand, Kakashi looked at Gai. "When did she learn that jutsu?" Gai chuckled as he pointed in front of him. "It would be best to ask Haku. He is the one who trained her for the past month." Kakashi looked at the seats in front of him to see Haku looking at him. "As you know, Chiharu has the same bloodline as me. So I thought it best that she would learn jutsu that would best help her in fights." Kakashi nodded. "I see, but how would the hidden mist jutsu help her when she has not been trained to be an assassin." Haku smiled as he turned down to look into the arena that was now filled with mist. "That technique can be used for more than assassin techniques."

Down in the arena, Temari looked around before she smirked. "Big deal, this mist is nothing to my wind." She swept her fan around her as she blew the mist away with a large gust of wind. Her smirk disappeared as she found three Chiharu's coming towards her in blurs. She hastily lifted her fan up to block one of the clones attack, and was rewarded with a blow to her stomach and head. She flew back from the attacks and rolled until she skidded to her stop on her hands and knees. She coughed a little as she looked up in rage. "Bitch, don't think you can take me down that easily." She stood up and opened her fan to reveal two stars. "I'm going to blow you away!"

Up in the stands, Kakashi looked at Haku in surprise. "You also taught her how to use water clones?" Haku nodded as he continued to watch the fight. "Chiharu seems to have the same ability as me to easily learn water jutsus. It did not take her long to master the Jutsu." He turned to Kakashi with a proud look. "She has yet to show how much she has grown. I look forward to seeing your expression when she wins this battle." Kakashi looked at him strangely at the sudden change in attitude. "Then I can't wait to see how much my adorable student has grown."

Temari swung her fan twice to send two burst of wind at the clones. They jumped apart as Temari appeared behind the wind to destroy one of the clones with a blow from her fan. She smirked as she blocked a punch from the second one and kicked its legs out from underneath it. She slammed her fan into its gut to make it disperse into water. Sensing the third one charging, she quickly opened her fan all the way and spun as she swept the fan around her. The clone slammed into the wind and dispersed instantly as the rest of the mist surrounding the real Chiharu dispersed. Chiharu was revealed as she stood silently on the pond with three more water clones behind her.

Temari glared at the silent girl. "Did you think simple water clones would defeat me?" Chiharu shook her head. "N-no, b-but it w-was b-better t-then r-recklessly a-attacking y-you and b-being i-injured." Temari looked at her in irritation. "What's up with the stuttering? Are you that afraid of me now that I showed you those clones wouldn't work against me?" Chiharu again shook her head as she bashfully looked around. "I-I'm just a l-little n-nervous b-being in f-front of a-all these p-people." Temari sighed as she raised her fan. "Then you better forfeit before I defeat you in front of all these people. Then you will really have something to be embarrassed about."

Chiharu looked a lot more nervous but surprised Temari by what she said next. "T-the f-fight is already o-over. Y-you can't e-escape, s-so p-please s-surrender b-before y-you g-get hurt." Temari gritted her teeth in anger as she lifted her fan. "I don't know who you think you are, but you just pissed me off. I'm going to shred you to pieces with my wind!" Chiharu watched as Temari reared back her fan. "**Sickle Weasel Technique"** A giant tornado appeared from her fan as it approached Chiharu only for her to disappear as her voice rang out.

"**Ice Release: Crystal Ice Mirrors" **Ice mirrors rose from the destroyed water clones to trap Temari in the middle of them. She looked around wildly as Chiharu appeared in the mirrors. "What the hell is this?" Chiharu didn't answer as one of her clones appeared from a mirror and grabbed ahold of Temari's fan. She turned to kick it away as another clone appeared below her and kicked her legs out from beneath her. She fell forward to meet a second kick from the same clone that launched her in the air as her fan was ripped from her grasp. She whirled around the air uncontrollable and widened her eyes in surprise as she caught a glimpse of the third clone above her. Her ascent was halted as the clone kicked her back to earth with an overhead kick. She gasped in pain as she was rocketed back to the earth.

Below her, Chiharu watched her fly back towards her with a clone on either side. "**Ice Release: Ice Prison**"The clones around her turned into water and rose to catch Temari. Temari was wrapped up by the water before it froze into ice and trapped her. Genma approached the frozen but alive Temari before he turned to the fans. "Winner, Chiharu Miato" There was a few seconds of stunned silence before the crowd erupted into cheers. Chiharu blushed at the cheers and waved shyly before running to the waiting area with a red face.

Kakashi watched as his student left the arena before he turned to Haku. "You even taught her you ice mirrors?" Haku nodded as he clapped. "Chiharu has learned most of my techniques that deal with my blood limit. She easily has the strength to be a Chunin at the moment." Kakashi nodded as Gai heartily patted the boy on the back. "Thanks to Haku, Chiharu is sure to be promoted to chunin and will be given the chance to show how even more youthful she can be."

Genma waited until the cheers died down before he announced the next match. "Up next is Neji Huyga against Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto cheered as he jumped down into the arena and was soon followed by a silent Neji. Naruto bounced in place as he and Neji waited for Genma to begin the match. "Are the two contestants ready?" Naruto punched the air. "Hell yeah!" Neji nodded silently as he slipped into his stance. "Alright, round 2 of the finals. Begin!"

Naruto charged forward as he created twelve shadow clones. Neji smirked as he activated his byakugan. "A frontal exalt will not affect me. A mistake that only a dropout would make." Naruto and his clones face scrunched up in irritation at his remark. "We'll see about that!" Neji dodged their attacks as he struck two clones in the stomach to make them disappear. "Using shadow clones was a smart idea since you distribute your chakra evenly among them. Even my byakugan can't tell the difference between you and your clones." He destroyed two more as he dodged the clone's attacks. "But you can only hide among them so long."

"Who said anything about hiding?" Neji byakugan caught Naruto in the back of his clones form a jutsu. "**Wind Release: Godly Wind from the Mountains"** A vortex of wind cut through the clones and headed for Neji. Neji spring boarded off a clone's back and up over the vortex to land beside the real Naruto. "Smart plan, but you left yourself exposed." Neji struck Naruto in the chest with his gentle fist style. "Now you won't be able to use chakra." Naruto chuckled before he looked at Neji. "Don't count me out yet." Neji widened his eyes in surprise as the Naruto he struck puffed away. He turned as the group of Naruto's behind him spoke. "My shadow clones can use jutsu too. Now prepared to get defeated by this dropout."

Dozens of Shurikens and Kunais were thrown by Naruto and the six clones that were around him. Neji smirked as he prepared to jump away. "Even if you throw that many, it means nothing if they can't hit their mark." Naruto's clones ignored him and scattered to leave one solitary Naruto alone. "**Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm"** Neji cursed as the weapons were propelled toward him faster than he could dodge. **"Rotation!"** Neji spun as a dome of chakra deflected the weapons. "It's futile you won't be able to touch me with my defense. You were fated to lose here today. No matter how hard you fight." Naruto and his clones regrouped as they watched Neji wearily. "It's always with fate with you. Stop hiding behind that excuse and try standing on your own."

Neji's face slightly tensed in anger. "One who is ignorant to this world should keep his mouth shut. I will crush you and show you that fate cannot be changed." Naruto and his clones charged forward. "I'll never let fate or anything else decide how far I can go or become." Neji got ready as Naruto and his clones surrounded him. "Only a fool like you could believe that." Naruto smirked as he and his clones attacked. "I rather be a fool then a bastard who can't even control his own life." Neji watched as each Naruto got closer. "**Rotation!"** The Naruto were repelled and skidded away. Neji watched as only one Naruto remained as the rest of the Clones disappeared. "Looks like I finally found the real you."

Naruto stood up as and glared at Neji. "I'm not through yet." He prepared to summon more clones as Neji dashed forward. "Too late, you're within my range." Naruto eyes widened in surprise as Neji struck him. "Hakke, two strikes!" Naruto gaspe in pain as Neji continued. "four strikes, eight strikes, sixteen strikes, thirty two strikes, sixt-" He was cut off as the Naruto he was hitting exploded into smoke. Neji face twisted into disbelief as Naruto voice drifted from a tree near the edge of the arena. "I'm glad Kotori made me learn how to use substitution jutsu." He dropped from the tree as he grinned at Neji.

Up in the stands, Haku looked over at Kakashi with surprise on his face. "How did Naruto escape from that? I thought all his clones were destroyed." Kakashi looked up from his book that had somehow found its way back into his hands. "Naruto made twelve shadow clones at the begging of the fight. Neji destroyed four before he was pushed to use his rotation to block Naruto's attack. He failed to realize that there should have been seven clones with Naruto instead of only six. He had only destroyed four so where did the other one go?" Haku looked back to the arena with a thoughtful look. "So Naruto had one of his clones hide in case he needed to substitute himself with it." Kakashi nodded as he answered. "Correct, you can thank Kotori for teaching how to utilize the jutsu with his large reserves. While it's true he can't use substitute with his normal chakra supply, he can easily use his shadow clones to cut down on his chakra. Through his training, we have made it to where he needs to make at least twelve shadow clones for the substitute technique to become usable for him." Haku nodded. "Only Naruto would be the one brave enough to try that plan out."

Neji glared at Naruto as he turned to face him. "Do not think this changes anything, it is till your fate to lose here to me. You have only delayed your defeat." Naruto frowned as he looked at Neji. "I just don't understand how someone as strong as you can settle being controlled by fate." Neji stared at him before he silently pulled his headband off to show the branch seal on his forehead. "My fate was decided the moment my father was born as the second son. A few seconds between births decided the fate of my father and me. He would have the seal placed on him and be made a part of the branch family. I ,as his son, would naturally be part of the branch family. No matter how much stronger I was then the main branch."

Naruto nodded as he understood where Neji was coming from. He too had a seal he could never escape from. Neji continued. "One day, a kumo ninja tried to kidnap Hinata and was killed by her father, Hiashi. Of course, this did not go well with Kumo and they demanded that he be turned offer for a death of one of their own." His group on his Konoha headband tightened. "A person was given to them, but it wasn't Hiashi. It was my father, who took his place to protect the head family." He glared at Naruto as he put his headband back on. "They sacrificed my father so that Hiashi would live. That was the day I learned my fate was decided the moment I was born."

Naruto looked at him with understanding. "I may not know whats it's like to lose a father. But I can tell you that I too carry a seal that burdens me heavily." Naruto faced turned to determination as he summoned a dozen more clones. "But unlike you, I decided to grab my future with my own hands." Neji looked at him with an emotionless face before he shook his head. "Try all you want, but you will still fall to me."

Nine of Naruto's clones charged Neji as three stayed behind with the real one. Neji rushed forward to meet the clones. He dispelled two instantly as he raced dodged between them. "I've already proven that your clones are to slow to be effective against me." He destroyed four more as he threw two of the clones into others. "And I already told you. I'm going to change my fate and yours if I have to!" Neji watched as dozens of Kunais were thrown towards him and the remaining three clones he was fighting. "**Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm"** Neji spun in place as the kunais were once again pushed forward by naruto's wind. **"Rotation!" **The clones around him exploded as the kunais were deflected back into them. Neji came to a stop as he faced Naruto and his remaining clones. "That move won't against me."

Naruto smirked as one of his clones began to form hand signs. "Then try and stop this! **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough" **A great gust of wind came flying towards Neji. **Rotation!** The wind met Neji chakra wall. The two jutsu clashed as each one tried to overpower the other. "**Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique" **The clone on the other side of Naruto used the wind to turn the c-rank jutsu into a b-rank fire jutsu. Neji grunted as he felt the huge flame clash against his shield. "I won't be defeated by the likes of you!" He poured as much chakra into his technique as he tried to deflect the attack.

A huge explosion rocked the arena as the two jutsu mixed together and exploded. Neji came skidding out of the smoke as he tried to stop himself. **"Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm"** Neji could only watch as he futilely tried to get his chakra exhausted body to stop as Naruto came flying out of the smoke propelled by his own jutsu. "Neji!" yelled Naruto as his fist collided with the boy's face. Neji smashed into the ground and laid still as Naruto landed behind him.

Genma walked over and checked Neji to see the boy had been knocked out. "Winner, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto was surprised when the cloud begin to cheer for him. He looked around before he began to laugh and blow kisses to the audience. Genma felt his eye twitch as he yelled at him. "Get off the field brat. So we can continue on with the matches." Naruto yelped in surprise before ran back to the waiting area.

"Up next is Shino Aburama and Shikamaru Nara." Shino silently jumped down into the arena as Shikamaru sighed before he too jumped down. "Are both contestants ready?" Shino and Shikamaru both nodded. "Round three of the finals begin!" Shikamaru jumped back as he threw down a smoke bomb to hide himself from view. Shino jumped back as a shadow shot out from the smoke and shot towards him. The shadow slowed then stopped as it reached its limit. Shino landed farther back as he sent bugs towards the smoke to attack Shikamaru. The shadow disappeared back into the smoke as the bugs followed it.

Shino titled his head in confusion seconds later as no screams was heard from the smoke. A shadow shot out from the trees beside him and captured him. "Shadow possession jutsu succeeded." Shikamaru walked out from behind the tree as Shino followed his movement. "How did you escape my bugs?" Shikamaru sighed as he allowed Shino to look to the smoke as it cleared. On the ground was Shikamaru's vest with Shino's bugs surrounding it. "I knew that you most likely put a female on me before the match. So I used the smoke to hide myself so you wouldn't know I had gotten rid of the bug."

Shino nodded as he found himself walking over to Shikamaru as he put a kunai to his throat. "Proctor, I forfeit." Genma nodded as he announced the winner. "The winner is, Shikamaru Nara." Shikamaru sighed as the fans cheered. "Troublesome." He slowly walked back to the waiting area as Genma announced the next fight.

"The next fight will be between Gaara and Sasuke Uchiha." Two things happened after his announcement. Gaara appeared in a cloud of sand and sat quietly. The other was a large explosion of smoke across from him as two figures appeared. "About time he called your name. I thought it would never be your turn." The smoke dispersed to reveal Sasuke dressed in a black shirt with the Uchiha symbol on the back, black shorts, ninja sandals, and wrapping around his right arm. Beside him was a black haired girl standing in a loose fitting blue Komono with purple mesh underneath it, short purple pants covered her legs, and ninja sandals. "We didn't have to wait until they said my name. We could have just appeared at the beginning." The girl turned to Sasuke with a pout. "But it wouldn't be as epic." People looked at the two in confusion as they saw that both were wearing the symbol of the Uchiha.

Kakashi groaned as he saw more and more attention be brought to said symbol on the back of the girls shirt. "Gai, I really think Kotori out did herself this time." Gai nodded as he too stared at her in disbelief. She had just revealed an A-rank secrect to the whole village without any hesitation.

In the kage stand, Sarutobi sighed. _Why does this generation have to be so full of troublemakers?_ He stood up as the fans began to make a ruckus. "It seems like those attending today will be the first to know a long held secret of our village." The crowd looked up to him as he began to speak. "As many of you know, years ago our very own Uchiha clan was destroyed leaving only two children alive." Sounds of shock and disbelief echoed throughout the crowd. He held up his hand to quiet them. "Through much thought, I decided to keep the survival of one of the children's survival a secret incase Itachi decided to return and finish the job." He turned to look at Kotori who looked back at him innocently. "But it seems that she no longer wants to remain hidden. So I present to you, Kotori Uchiha, or as most of you would know her Kotori Hatake."

Sounds of surprise came from all over as many recognized the name. Kotori smirked as she wrapped her arm around Sasuke shoulder. "That's right. You guys finally get to see me with my mask off. I hope you like it, because you're going to be seeing a lot more of it." The crowd began to cheer as Sasuke shook his head. "Did you really have to say that?" Kotori looked at him and grinned. "Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't do something to embarrass you."

Genma cleared his throat as the crowd settled down. "As much fun as this has been. I have to ask you to leave the arena now so we can continue on with the finals." Kotori pouted at him before she let go of Sasuke. "Fine, I'll let my little brother have the spotlight for now." Sasuke eye twitched as Kotori teleport up to stand beside Kakashi. _Damn, why does she always have to embarrass me like that?_

Up in the stand, Kotori landed besides Kakashi and leaned against the wall. "Hey guys, miss me?" Kakashi chuckled as he put away his book. "It was quieter around here without you." Kotori pouted at him before she turned to Gai. "Gai, I know at least you must have missed me." He laughed as he took in her knew appearance. "I missed your youthful spirit in the week you have been gone." She turned back to Kakashi with a smile on her face. "At least someone is truthful about missing me."

Haku watched in amusement at their friendly argument. He missed out on all the hidden messages Kotoroi had been sending both Gai and Kakashi through body language and hand sings. If he had noticed and understood what she was saying, he would have not felt so happy. Especially, when the hidden message was reporting heavy movement of sand and sound ninja outside the village. He turned back to watch Sasuke fight and never noticed Kakashi disappear behind him to inform the Hokage of the news.

Down in the arena, Sasuke and Gaara stared at each other silently. "Are both fighters ready?" Both of them nodded. "Round four of the finals, Begin." Sasuke jumped back as sand begin to whip wildly around Gaara. "Sasuke Uchiha, I've been waiting for this match." The sand shot forward as Gaara grinned as blood thirst leaked off of him. "Make me feel alive!" Sasuke's sharingan actived as he used his chakra to increase his speed. He dodged the wave of sand and ran towards Gaara while forming hand signs. **"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique"** Multiple fireballs shot out towards Gaara as his sand rose up to deflect it.

Gaara chuckled insanely as launched spikes made of sand at Sasuke. "Mother… wants your blood!" Sasuke's sharingan spun as he weaved between the spikes to appear in front of Gaara. **"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique" **Gaara's eye's widened slightly as his sand barely rose in time to collide with the fireball. "You're too slow." Gaara skidded sideways as Sasuke appeared behind him and brought a sweeping kick to his head. The sand followed Gaara as it wrapped around him to form a ball. Sasuke charged after him as he tried to strike Gaara before the sphere closed. He quickly abandoned the plan when spikes formed on the sphere in an attempt to impale him. He jumped back as he studied the sphere.

"This is new. I didn't know you could form an even better defense from your sand. Or maybe this was something you came up with during your training this month." He smirked as he received no answer. "It doesn't matter." Multiple Kunais and shurikens appeared in his hand. "I'll show you that no defense is perfect. **"Manipulating Windmill Triple Blades"** He threw all his weapons at the sphere as they curved around it and wrapped it in wire. He smirked when the sand didn't react. **"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique"** Fire shot along the wires and converged on the ball. Fire met explosive tags connected to each kunai and caused a massive explosion.

A scream of pain and rage filled the air as the sphere collapsed. The smoke revealed to show Gaara hand and half his face had undergone a transformation. Sand stuck to him to form a claw and half a demonic face. "I will not be defeated here. I will kill you and prove my existences." "**Sand shuriken"** Dozens of shuriken shot of his arm as Sasuke jumped back as he dodged them. Gaara laughed crazily as his arm shot out to follow his attack. "I'm going to crush you." The arm slammed into the ground where Sasuke was. Gaara frowned as he didn't feel any breaking bones or blood seep into his sand.

"It seems I really will have to use this technique." Gaara eyes looked up to see Sasuke standing on the wall with a smirk on his face. "I'm going to end this here." He formed several hand signs before grabbing his right wrist. **"Lightning Release"** Lighting formed in his hand as he shot down the wall and towards Gaara. Gaara sand rose up to defend him as he lifted his sand arm to deflect the attack. **"Chidori!"** His attack cut through the sand barrier easy and collided with Gaara's sand arm.

Up in the stand, Orochimaru frowned as he watched the boy start to ruin his plan. It seemed he would have to speed things up. Seconds later, Gaara screamed in pain as his sand arm was cut off and revealed a bleeding arm. Sasuke jumped back as he began to pant. "Damn, it didn't do as much damage as I hoped it would." Gaara ignored him as he stared at his bleeding arm. "Blood…" Something seemed to snap in Gaara as his chakra and sand thrashed around wildly. "**My blood!"**

Up in the stands, Orochimaru frowned as he watched the sand brat start to lose control. The boy had begun to lose control faster than he planned. His frown turned into a snakelike smirk as he sent his signal to Kabuto. Instantly, a genjutsu was cast in the stadium as explosions sounded in the distance. No matter, this little change in plan would only make the destruction of Konoha that much quicker.

* * *

Jutsu list of Main Characters:

**Chiharu**

C-Rank Water Release: Water Clones  
D-Rank Water Release: Hidden Mist  
B-Rank Ice Release: Crystal Ice Mirrors  
C-Rank Ice Release: Ice Prison  
B-Rank Ice Release: Thousands Needles of Death  
D-Rank Ice Release: Water Freezing  
C-Rank Ice Release: Ice Pellets

**Naruto**

D-Rank Wind Release: Godly Wind from the Mountains  
C-Rank Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm  
C-Rank Wind Release: Great Breakthrough  
C-Rank Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique  
B-Rank Shadow Clone  
C-Rank Summoning: A-Rank Toad Contract

**Sasuke**

C- Rank Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique  
C- Rank Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique  
D-Rank Shadow Shuriken Technique  
C-Rank Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique  
C-Rank Manipulating Windmill Triple Blades  
A-Rank Lightning Release: Chidori

**Kotori**

Too many to list.

**Kakashi**

Way! Too many to even think about!


End file.
